YugiohRebirth of the King
by TurboDuel
Summary: With the Pharaoh gone Yugi is turning back into his old shy and timid self. But when a new evil rises Yugi enters Kaiba's latest tournament in order to not only save the world but to prove to everyone that he is the true King of Games.
1. Yugi's Dream

As he ran down the streets of Domino City all Yugi could hear was the sound of his shoes hitting the pavement. The sky was a deep shade of red and lightning streaked across the sky. As Yugi ran down the streets he failed to notice that he was the only person left in the city. When he reached Clock Tower Square a horrible sight met Yugi's eyes. The clock tower itself was bent in half, the clock smashed against the sidewalk. Off in the distance Yugi could see the remains of the KaibaCorp building, the top half collapsed in on the lower half. Buildings were crumbling or destroyed completely.

As Yugi looked around at the devastation he noticed three bodies lying twenty feet away from him. When he ran up to them Yugi saw that they were the bodies of his friends Joey Wheeler and Tea Gardener and the third was his dueling rival Seto Kaiba. Once he reached him Yugi knelt down beside Joey. "Joey, are you alright?" Yugi asked.

In a soft and hurt voice Joey said "We were counting on you to save us Yugi, how could ya have let us down man?"

"I tried my best Joey believe me I tried." said Yugi as he cried.

"It's your fault Yugi." grunted a hurt Kaiba. "Our homes, our city, our world is now destroyed because of you!"

"The Pharaoh would have won Yugi." whispers Tea. "The Pharaoh would have saved us."

"Guys I tried my best to win the duel but I just couldn't! I'm not as strong as the Pharaoh!" cries Yugi.

Then a familiar voice shouted 'Yugi!" from behind him. When Yugi turned around he saw the Pharaoh standing before him.

"Pharaoh?" asks Yugi.

"You've let your friends down Yugi." the Pharaoh said disapproving" You have disappointed not only them but me as well. Because of you the world has been sent into darkness. Evil now rules all."

"No." says Yugi "No, we can still save our world." But then there was a whooshing sound behind him. Yugi turned around to see that fire has engulfed Joey, Tea and, Kaiba's body's. "Joey, Tea, Kaiba NOOOO!" shouts Yugi.

Then Yugi turned around to see the same flame engulf the Pharaoh. "Pharaoh NOOOO!" cried Yugi as he rushed over to save the Pharaoh. But the fire completely surrounded the Pharaoh so Yugi couldn't get to him.

"Pharaoh, Pharaoh are you alright!" screams a scared Yugi. Two seconds later the fire extinguished itself. Yugi ran up to the spot where the Pharaoh had been standing. The only thing left was the jacket that the Pharaoh had been wearing. "No" says Yugi as he drops to his knees. He then reaches down and lifts the Pharaohs jacket in his hands. With tears running down his face Yugi tilts his head back towards the sky closes his eyes and then he screams "PHARAOOOOOOOOOH!"

Yugi opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. Then looking around Yugi realized that he was still in his bedroom. He wiped the sweat from his fore head and whispered "The same dream again._"_

As he sits there taking deep breaths Yugi hears his grandpa cry "YUGI ARE YOU UP YET?! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!"

Yugi shouts back "YES GRANDPA I'M AWAKE NOW!"

"WELL THEN HURRY UP" shouts Grandpa Moto, "YOU'ER GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL IF YOU DON'T GET A MOVE ON!"

Yugi then threw back his covers and walked over to his closet and opens the door and pulls out his clothes and school bag. Then something falls out of his bag. When he reaches down to pick it up Yugi realizes that it is his dueling deck belt. He then opens it and pulls out his Dark Magician card and recalls his dream. "_I wish you were here Pharaoh_," thinks Yugi_" because I have a feeling that the worlds about to face the greatest danger it ever has._"

From behind him Yugi heard a small cry that he recognized immediately. He turned around to find the spirit of Kuriboh hovering next to his bed. "Hi Kuriboh." Yugi said. Kuriboh let out a moan and floated down next to Yugi, looking sad and worried.

"I take it you've got the same feeling that I do don't you?" Kuriboh nodded back. "Well don't worry. Everything's going to be just fine. I promise."

The little spirit snuggled its self against Yugi. Since he really didn't speak Kuriboh Yugi decided that this meant Kuriboh was feeling better. Yugi finished dressing and came out of his room to find his Grandpa watching the news. Yugi paused and listened to the last news report.

"On our final note, the Kaiba Corporation has completed construction on the Domino City Duel Stadium." the reporter said.

"The Domino City Duel Stadium?" Grandpa asked.

"Must be that stadium Kaiba used during Battle City as the gathering location for the finalists." Yugi said.

"Must be." Grandpa agreed.

"To celebrate the grand opening of this stadium KaibaCorp president Seto Kaiba has decided to throw a new dueling tournament that he's calling the Duel Monsters Championship Tournament." the reported stated.

"The Duel Monsters Championship Tournament. Sounds like a lot of fun, don't you think Yugi?" Grandpa asked.

"Sure Grandpa." Yugi said halfhearted.

Just then Grandpa realized Yugi was still home and he looked up at Yugi and shouted "YUGI! WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE! IF YOU DON'T GET A MOVE ON YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!"

Yugi looked at the clock on the wall and took off running while shouting "I'LL SEE YOU LATER GRANDPA!"

Across town at the Kaiba mansion, Kaiba sat in his home office looking through some paper work when Mokuba walked in.

"Hey Seto. What are you doing?"

"Just wrapping up a few last minute details for the tournament." Kaiba said. He looked up from his papers. "One of which I'm going to take care of now."

Kaiba tossed an envelope to Mokuba. "What's this?"

"Just read it."

Mokuba opened the letter and read it. "Are you serious Seto?!" Mokuba asked.

"Very. I plan on participating in this tournament and I'm not going to have time to worry about every little thing. That's why I'm putting you in charge of the tournament. Registration's tonight. Think you can handle it?"

"Absolutely Seto! I won't let you down."

"Good." Kaiba came around his desk and picked up his briefcase. "Let's get going before we're both late to school."

-Ok people this is my first fic using the original Yugioh. So please leave comments and let me know if I should keep going with this or just stick to writing my 5DS fics.


	2. Yugi's Condition

As the Pharaoh started walking into the afterlife the giant stone doors began to close. Once they were closed the tomb began to collapse around Yugi and his friends. Once outside they all turned around and stared at the entrance. Then from the distance Yugi heard someone calling his name "Yugi, Yuuuuuugi." Then Yugi felt a hand on his shoulder and a slight jerk brought him back to his senses.

"Hey earth to Yugi. Are you there Yugi?" Yugi looked up to see that the hand and voice belonged to his friend Joey Wheeler.

"Oh! Hey there Joey. What's going on?" asked Yugi.

"I was asking you if you wanted to go and grab some pizza with me, Tristan, Duke, and Tea?" asked Joey.

"Sorry Joey but I can't tonight." Yugi said.

"Okay. Then I guess I'll show ya this now." Joey reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small folded up paper.

"What's that Joey?" asks Yugi. Once Joey had the paper unfolded completely he set the flyer on Yugi's desk. Yugi then picks it up and begins to read it.

"Rich Boy's throwing another Duel Monsters tournament and registration for it is tonight at KaibaCorp." explained Joey.

"I heard about this on the morning news." Yugi said. "I think they called it the Duel Monsters Championship Tournament."

Joey sat down in the chair in front of Yugi's desk. "So what'd you think Yuge?"

"About what?"

"About enterin' the Duel Monsters Championship!" said Joey. "Between you and me this tournament of Kaiba's is in the bag."

"I don't know Joey." said a skeptic Yugi.

"What do you mean you don't know man!" said Joey. "You're the King of Games Yuge! You have to show up for the tournament!" Yugi frowned and stared at the paper advertising Kaiba's tournament.

"Come on Yugi you gotta compete. You haven't really dueled at all since the Pharaoh left." said Joey.

With this said Yugi looked from the paper to Joey. "So that's it isn't it." Joey said. Joey sighed and then turned back to Yugi. "Look Yugi I know you miss Atem but it's been two months since he left. He wouldn't want you to be spending all of your time missing him. The time's come to move on."

Yugi didn't say anything to this put just kept staring at the poster.

Then Joey leaned forward in his chair towards Yugi and said "Come on Yugi. It's time to strap your duel disk back on and dust off your deck. It'll be just like the old days pal. Same as it always was."

Once Joey said this Yugi slammed his hands down on his desk and stood up. With an angered look on his face Yugi stared right at Joey and said "No Joey it will never be the same! It will never be like it used to be!" With this said Yugi picked up his school bag and stormed out of the class room right passed Tea and Tristan.

"What's up with Yugi?" asked Tristan.

"Probably the same as it's been for the past two months." said Tea. "He misses the Pharaoh." Tea looked back at the classroom door with a sad look on her face.

"We need to do something to pull him out of this funk." said Tristan.

"But what?" asked Joey as he stood up "Yugi's so depressed that he won't even duel anymore." After Joey said this they heard a chuckle coming from just outside the door. When they all turned toward it they saw the figure of one Seto Kaiba.

"Did I hear you right Wheeler?" asked Kaiba, "The great King of Games is afraid to duel in my little tournament?"

"What's it to you Kaiba?" asked Joey as his temper rose. "You're not even Yugi's friend!"

"Maybe," said Kaiba. "but at least I can see that your _friend_ is on his way to becoming his old self again." And he walked away.

"What's that supposed to mean that Yugi's turning back to his old self?" asked a confused Tristan.

"It's just like Kaiba said." explained Tea. "Yugi's going back to the way he was before he solved the Millennium Puzzle and met the Pharaoh."

"You mean to tell me that he's turning back into that shy, timid, friendless, miserable, won't talk to anyone Yugi?" asked Joey.

"I hated that Yugi!" said Tristan. "He was such a whinny little wuss. We have to snap him out of it!"

"But how? We tried everything that we could think of." said Tea.

"Then we'll just have to keep thinking until we come up with something that will bring him back." said Joey seriously.

Just then Duke Devlin walked into the room. "Okay people the cars warmed up and parked out front waiting." he said. "First stop pizza and then on to the tournament registration at KaibaCorp." As he looked at his friends sadden faces Duke started to get the feeling that he just missed something important. "What's going on guys? Did I miss something?" asked Duke.

Joey walked forward and placed his hand on Dukes shoulder and said "Come on Duke. I'll fill you in on the way to the pizzeria."


	3. Registration

School was out for the students of Domino High. Some were heading home to start their home work while others went off to meet up and hang out with their friends. On the roof of the school Yugi stood by the fence with one hand raised gripping the fence recalling what just transpired between him and Joey.

"_They just don't get it_." thought Yugi. "_They weren't as close to the Pharaoh as he and I were. And to compete in a tournament without him just doesn't seem right._"

Then Yugi heard footsteps behind him and a voice say "What's the matter Yugi?" Yugi turned around to see Kaiba standing right behind him. "Are you still sad and upset because your boyfriend the Pharaoh left you?" asked Kaiba mockingly.

Yugi said very strictly "Kaiba I'm in no mood for your taunting, so just go home!" and he turned back around to face the fence.

After this Kaiba rises his voice and says "Do you think you're the only one that has suffered since the Pharaoh left Yugi! Do you think your life is the only one that has been affected by his leaving?!" Yugi turns back around and looks at Kaiba.

"Since the Pharaoh's left I don't have any decent rivals left to challenge me! No duelist left that can push me to be my best! No duelist that can push my skills to the edge and force me to become a greater duelist!" After Kaiba said this Yugi just turns back around to face the city. Kaiba then walks up so that he is right beside Yugi and spoke to him with a sort of business tone.

"Listen Yugi I'm sure by now that third rate duelist Joey Wheeler has already told you about my new tournament."

Yugi said "Yes. Joey has mentioned your tournament."

"Then you should be well aware that registrations tonight at my company." spoke Kaiba. "If you have any pride left as a duelist you'll show up. Registration begins at 6:30 sharp. If you're still a true duelist I expect you to be there."

As Kaiba turns to leave he stops and tells Yugi "Listen to me now Yugi. The Pharaoh is gone. He's moved on with his life. Now it's time for you to do the same." As Kaiba walked away Yugi began to think about what he said.

"Almost sounded like what Joey told me." says Yugi. "Only Joey put it a lot nicer than Kaiba just did. But I guess I needed someone like Kaiba to get the message across."

The breeze then blow a piece of paper right into the side of Yugi's left leg. As he picks it up Yugi realizes that it is another ad for Kaiba's tournament.

"Well," said Yugi, "Kaiba wants to know if I have any duelist pride left in me. I guess there's only one way to find out."

At 6:30 Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Duke strolled into KaibaCorp. "I wonder where you sign up for the tournament?" asked Tristan. As he looked around Duke noticed the pretty girl sitting behind the reception desk.

"No sweat guys I'll find out." And he walked up to the receptionist and started talking to her.

"Five dollars says he comes back with her phone number." says Tea.

"You're on." agrees Tristan. Five minutes later Duke rejoins his friends.

"Well?" asked Joey, "Where do I register for the tournament?"

"She said that the registration's happening upstairs in Kaiba's personal duel arena." explained Duke.

"Well what are we waiting for?! Let's get goin'!" said an excited Joey. As they got into the elevator Tea tapped Duke on the shoulder.

"Just out of curiosity," she said, "did you get that girls phone number?"

"Yeah I did." said Duke, "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason." said Tea. Out the corner of his eye Joey saw Tristan slip a five dollar bill into Tea's hand.

Once they reached the right floor the gang exited the elevator and saw a small table set in front of a doorway. Once they exited the elevator the gang was greeted by Roland, one of Kaiba's employees and his little brother Mokuba.

"Joey, Tea, Tristan, Duke" said Mokuba happily as he rushed over to see them.

"Hey Mokuba." said Joey.

"Hi Mokuba." said Tea, "What are you doing?"

"Seto put me in charge of the tournament and one of my duties is to handle the registration for the tournament." said a proud Mokuba. "Roland and I are also in charge of choosing the participants that will compete."

"I thought that's what registration was for Mokuba." said Duke confusingly.

"I'll explain inside the arena." said Mokuba as they walked in.

Once Joey was properly registered and they were inside the arena the gang could not but notice that it was packed full of people hoping to be chosen for the tournament. And as he noticed all the people Joey said "Whoa, look at all the duelists!"

"You're going to have all these people participate?" asked Duke.

"Nope." said Mokuba. "We're only taking the sixteen of the best."

"But there's like fifty different people here." said Tea. "How do you decide who to choose?"

"That's easy." laughed Mokuba.

"Well are you going to tell us or not?" asked Tristan. Once they found some empty seats in the stands the gang noticed that in the middle of the arena was a space just large enough for two people to duel. And at the one end of the arena was some sort of machine.

"That's how." says Mokuba as he points to the machine. "You see this machine was designed by my brother so he could practice his dueling. Each person how registered duels against the robot and all those who win get placed in a winner's bracket. From there Roland and I pick the sixteen best duelist."

"How do you decide who gets to duel in the tournament from the winners bracket Mokuba?" asked Duke.

"We look at how long it took each participant to win their duel and how many life points they had left. The better the duel performance the more likely one will be in the tournament. "said Mokuba.

"So basically," said Joey," I just have to win the duel as quick as I can and make sure I have tons of life points left."

"Think you can actually do that Joey?" Tristan asked.

"What you mean?" Joey asked.

"I've seen all your duels dude and every time your life points end up below a thousand before the duels over." Tristan pointed out.

"He's got a point." Duke said.

Outside the arena the elevator door opened and someone exited the elevator and walked up to the registration desk. At the desk Roland was organizing the registration forms into a neat pile.

"I'm here to register for the tournament." said the person.

"Very well." said Roland. So he found an empty form and grabbed a pen.

"Name?" asked Roland.

"Yugi, Yugi Muto."


	4. The Registration Duel

After he was signed up and properly registered Yugi entered the arena and found some empty sets near the door. "There sure are a lot of duelist here." said Yugi. As he looked down at the duel field Yugi noticed that Kaiba was right in the middle of his duel.

The computer had 8000 life points and a XYZ Dragon Canon in attack mode equipped with the Black Pendent spell, raising the Dragon Canons attack points by 500 points, raising its attack power from 2800 to 3300. Kaiba has 3800 life points left with three cards face down on the field with four cards left in his hand.

"Alright my move." said Kaiba. He then drew his card and grinned. "I activate my face down card! Go Polymerization! Fuse my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons together in order to summon my BLUE-EYES ULTIMATE DRAGON!" When Kaiba's Ultimate Dragon emerged it filled up the entire stadium.

"Next I activate my Defusion spell. With this I can send my Ultimate Dragon back to my deck and summon my three original Blue-Eyes from the graveyard." said Kaiba.

"But why would he do that?" asked Tristan. "His dragons are weaker than the duel robots Dragon Cannon."

"If Kaiba attacked first with his Ultimate Dragon and then used DE-FUSION he could have inflicted a lot of damage right?" asked Tea.

"That's right." said Duke. "But knowing Kaiba he probably has a move that will allow him to win the duel this turn."

"Next I reveal my last face down card!" yelled Kaiba. "Behold my Delta Attacker magic card!"

"What's Delta Attacker do?" asked Tea.

"It's a pretty powerful and dangerous magic card when used right." said Joey. "In order to use it a duelist has to have three normal monsters on the field with the same name."

"What happens when you have the three monsters?" asked Tristan.

"At that point Delta Attacker's effect allows those three monsters to attack your opponent directly. And with each Blue-Eyes packing 3000 attack points Kaiba can deal a totally of 9000 points of damage." said Duke.

Tea gasped and Tristan said "No way."

"Now go my Blue-Eye's attack!" commanded Kaiba. Kaiba's three Blue-Eyes took to the air and formed something of a triangle. "Attack the player directly with TRIPLE WHITE LIGHTNING BLAST!" Each Blue-Eyes fired an attack that completely consumed the robot dropping its life points to zero.

In a computerized voice the robot said "_Seto Kaiba. Victory confirmed."_ Kaiba put his duel disk back in standby mode and excited the arena.

"Should have guessed Kaiba would want to compete in this tournament." said Yugi. "The Pharaoh may be gone but he still wants the King of Games title."

"So I guess it's safe to say that your brother's going to be in this thing." said Joey.

"You better believe it." said Mokuba. "He's had the best duel so far."

Joey stood up and said "Not for long!" and he rushed off for the arena. After a while Joey had reduced the bots life points to 3000 points and he was able to get his Gilford the Lightning and Red-Eyes Black Dragon cards out on to the field.

"Alright Gilford attack this hunk of metal with Lightning Sword!" commanded Joey. Gilford pulled out his sword and shot a bolt of lightning from it that hit the duel bot in the center. "Now go Red-Eyes end this duel!" shouted Joey. "Attack with Inferno Fire Blast!" Red-Eyes reared its head back and then shot a fire ball and the duel bot causing it to loss that last of its life points.

"_Joey Wheeler. Victory confirmed"_ Joey shouted 'alright' after the duel bot confirmed his win.

"I knew that duel bot wouldn't be much of a challenge for Joey." said Yugi.

Just then over the speaker system Roland shouted "Duelist number 48 report to the arena!" Yugi stood up and head for the arena for now it was his turn to duel.

Back in the stands Joey had just rejoined Tristan, Tea, Duke, and Mokuba. "How's was that Mokuba?" asked Joey. "Was that good enough to get into the tournament?"

"It wasn't too bad." said Mokuba. "But it wasn't as good as my brothers." Joey just groaned and leaned back in his seat.

Yugi had made it to the entrance to arena and thought to himself _"Alright time to see if I can handle this. I defeated the Egyptian God Cards on my own when I dueled the Pharaoh so a robot shouldn't be too difficult to duel against."_ Yugi entered the arena and everyone in the audience went crazy.

"Hey check it out!" shouted Tristan.

"It's Yugi!" said Duke.

Joey leapt from his seat and said "I told you he'd come didn't I!"

After Kaiba won his duel he exited the arena and he got into his private elevator and took it up to his office. Once he was in his office Kaiba switched on the monitor he had set up so he could watch the registration duels. When he saw that it was Yugi up next he smiled and said "Now it's time to see if you still have what it takes to be called the King of Games."

Back down in the arena Yugi took his deck out of its case on his belt and looked at it for a second and then he placed it in his duel disk and then shouted "It's time to duel!" At these words the duel robot came to life.

"_It is time to duel_." it said.

"The first move is mine." said Yugi. "First I'll summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior in defense mode and place one card face down to end my turn."

"_My turn. Draw card. Activating the effect of Thunder Dragon. By sending Thunder Dragon to the card graveyard I can add two other Thunder Dragon cards from my deck into my hand._" said the robot.

"Two more dragons?" said Yugi. "That could only mean one thing."

"_Next I use the magic card called Polymerization. This card can fuse the two Thunder Dragons in my hand together to fusion summon Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon."_

"It has 2800 attack points." said Duke. "That's why more than enough to destroy Yugi's magnet warrior."

"_Commence battle phase. Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon attack the opponents Gamma the Magnet Warrior."_ The dragons launched lightning bolts from the horns on both of its heads and destroyed Gamma. "_I place two cards face down. Turn end."_

"My draw then." said Yugi. "First I'll use my face down card Shallow Grave to bring back my Gamma the Magnet Warrior. However to this cards effect you can summon a monster from your graveyard as well."

"_Summoning Thunder Dragon in defense mode."_

"Next I'll sacrifice my Magnet Warrior in order to play my Summon Skull!" said Yugi.

"But Summon Skull only has 2500 attack points. What's Yugi thinking?" said Tea.

"Next I activate my Makiu the Magical Mist. With this card I can give my Summon Skull a power boost." said Yugi.

"_Trap card activate. Magic Jammer. By sending one card from my hand to the card graveyard this trap can negate the effect of an opponent's magic card and destroy it."_ said the Robot.

"Fine then. I'll just attack the Thunder Dragon in defense mode with Summon Skull." said Yugi. "I end my turn."

"_My turn. Draw. Battle phase. Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon attack Summon Skull."_ Yugi's life points dropped from 4000 to 3700. "_Next I reveal my face down card. De-fusion. I can send Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon back to my fusion deck and summon the two Thunder Dragons used to create it."_

"Oh no." said Yugi. The two Thunder Dragons appeared and the computer ordered them to attack. This attack dropped Yugi's life points down to 500 life points and knocking him over.

"YUGI!" shouted Joey.

"This isn't good. One more attack and he's done for." said Duke.

Tristan grabbed Duke and said "Would you quiet being such a naysayer!" Down in the field Yugi picked himself off of the ground and dusted of his jacket sleeves.

"Alright then it's my move." said Yugi. "I'll use my Card of Sanctity to draw cards from my deck until I hold six." Yugi drew his cards and looked at them with a smile. "Since I've just added Watapon to my hand by the means of a magic card I can special summon him to the field. Next I sacrifice my Watapon in order to summon my Dark Magician Girl."

"Alright! Yugi just got one of his best monsters on the field!" Joey shouted.

"Then I'll use my Sage's Stone card. Since I have Dark Magician Girl on the field I can now summon my Dark Magician from my deck!"

When Dark Magician appeared onto the field Joey said "It's all over now guys."

"Next up I equip The Book of Secret Arts to my Dark Magician. This will increase his attack points to 2800." said Yugi. "Then I'll use Dian Keto the Cure Master. With this I can regain 1000 life points."

Gold sparkles fell from the ceiling of the building and completely covered Yugi from head to toe. "And now I activate my final magic card. Diffusion Wave Motion! By paying 1000 life points my Dark Magician can now attack both of your dragons!"

"And since his magician has an extra 300 points that means, uh." said Tristan.

"It means that Yugi will be able to deal enough damage that all he'll have to do is attack with Dark Magician Girl!" said Joey.

"Go Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!" shouted Yugi. The Dark Magician lifted his staff into the air and from it came two waves of dark colored energy. The two waves collided with the robots dragons thus destroying them and inflicting 2400 points of damage and destroying the one facedown.

"And now Dark Magician Girl end this duel with Dark Burning attack!" The Dark Magician Girl twirled around and fired and energy ball at the robot and depleted its life points.

"_Yugi Muto. Victory confirmed."_ After the robot said this the entire arena cheered for Yugi.

Up in the stands Joey was cheering loudly saying "I told you he still had it!"

Back in his office Kaiba just smirked. "Well, well. It seems like you still have some fight in you after all." Kaiba said.

Yugi smiled at everyone who was cheering and was waving to his fans in the stands. However there were three people who were not cheering at all but looked rather disappointed.

"It seems the boy can duel very well even without the Spirit's help." said one man with a British accent.

"Having that pipsqueak in the tournament could complicate our plans couldn't it Devon?" asked another man.

"Yes it could Micheal. Or it could help move it along." said Devon.

"What do you mean 'move it along'?" asked Michael.

"Even though he no longer lives inside his soul, I believe that some of the Pharaoh's energy may still flow through young Yugi's veins." said Devon. "And if we can push him hard enough that he must resort to using that power…"

"We could harness it for our own purpose." finished Michael.

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves boys." said a women. "We still have to acquire the tools for the job."

"You're quiet right Bonnie." said Devon. "We should take the time to acquire those cards." Devon turned to leave as did Bonnie.

Michael turned to leave as well saying "Next stop Industrial Illusions."


	5. The Dinner Gala

Pegasus was in his office finishing up some paper work. It was a sunny afternoon and Industrial Illusions was as busy as it always was. Pegasus just finished signing his last paper when Croquet knocked and entered the office.

"Master Pegasus sir I have something for you." he said.

"What is it this time Croquet?" Pegasus asked. Croquet handed him an envelope with the KaibaCorp logo on it. "Oh it's from the Kaiba Corporation. I wonder what dear Kaiba boy wants today." Pegasus opened the envelope and found an invitation.

"Well, well, well. It seems Kaiba boy is starting up another tournament and has had the decency to invite me to his fancy dinner party to announce the participants." Pegasus said.

"Shall I have the jet standing by sir?" Croquet asked.

"Yes Croquet please do." Pegasus said. Croquet left the office and Pegasus stood up and walked to the windows behind his desk and looked out them. Pegasus then turned towards a picture he had up on the wall, a picture of Yugi, Joey and their friends with Kaiba and Mokuba with them after Yugi had won the Grand Championship.

"It would be foolish not to think that Yugi would compete in this tournament. After all he is the King of Games." Pegasus said. "I'm curious to see how Yugi boy will handle himself in this tournament without the Pharaoh to guide him."

Outside Pegasus's office Croquet was walking down the hall checking the paper work he had with him when a woman in a business suit bumped into him. "I'm very sorry miss." Croquet said.

"No it's alright it, was my fault." the women said. She continued to walk down the hall until Croquet was out of sight and then the women got into the elevator and went to the ground floor. Back downstairs on the main floor two janitors were mopping the floors near the elevator. One of them had with them a small duffle bag. The woman in the business suit walked up to them. Devon and Michael stopped mopping the floors and looked up at Bonnie as she walked towards them.

"Were you able to get a key card?" Devon asked Bonnie.

Bonnie held up a card and handed it to Devon. "It wasn't easy. I had to go all the way to the top floor near Pegasus's office to find him."

Devon took the card and said "Excellent. Know we can access the vault." Devon pressed a button to open the elevator and the three of them got in. Devon pushed a button that read SUB-LEVEL B2. A computerized voice came over the speakers of the elevator saying "Please insert ID card."

Devon put the card into a slot just below the button panel. The voice said "Authorization granted Mr. Croquet." The elevator began to descend. When the elevator reached B2 the doors opened and the trio excited only to find themselves face to face with a giant vault door.

"This is it." Devon said. He walked up to the card slot for the door but stopped short.

"What's wrong Devon?" Michael asked.

"This is what's wrong." Devon said. He pointed to a number pad and an eye scan device that were on each side of the key card slot. "It seems Pegasus has upgraded his security protocols since last time I was here."

"Just great!" Bonnie said. "What are we supposed to do know?"

"Michael I believe it is time to go with our back up plan." Devon said. Michael nodded. He took off the duffle bag and set it on the ground. He then knelt down and opened the bag reviling dozens of small powerful explosives.

"Devon those aren't going to blow this door off its hinges." Bonnie said.

"No but they will have enough power to blast a hole large enough for us to get through." Devon said as he and Michael set the charges. Once the explosives were in place Michael took the detonator from the bag and flicked it on.

He, Devon, and Bonnie were inside the elevator with their feet in the door so it couldn't close. Devon nodded to Michael and Michael hit the switch. When he did the charges went off blowing a hole in the vault door and causing an alarm to go off through the whole building.

Up in his office Pegasus heard the alarm and had gotten on his phone to contact security. "What in the world is going on?" Pegasus asked.

The security guard on the other end said "We aren't sure Mr. Pegasus but it seems there was an explosion in the lower levels."

Pegasus's face changed from one of shock to horror. "What level was it? Did you find out?"

"It was SUB-LEVEL B2 sir." Pegasus grabbed the remote on his desk on pointed it towards the television sitting on a shelf just diagonal from his desk. When he did a picture of the vault on B2 was shown and Pegasus could see Devon, Michael, and Bonnie walking into it.

"The vault on SUB-LEVEL B2 has been breached! Activate the emergency lock down for that vault!" Pegasus told the guard over the phone.

Devon and the others entered the vault. Michael looked around and saw something's that looked like security deposit boxes. "So this is where Pegasus keeps the card designs and the cards too strong for the public to use." Michaels said.

"That's correct." Devon said. He stopped in front of on box. "But what we came for is in this box." Michael pulled a crow bar out of the bag and used it to pray the box open. Inside the box were three cards. Just then there was a second alarm sounding and a huge metal door came down just behind the vault door.

"It seems Pegasus is altered to our presences my friends." Devon said. "But he is too late to stop us." Devon reached into the box and pulled out the cards and raised them into the air laughing. The cards began to glow with a black dark aura around them.

Outside the vault several of Pegasus private security force and the real police were getting ready to cancel the lock down and arrest Devon and the others when there was an explosion. The door to the vault exploded into several large pieces and the officers and security force were thrown back flying through the air and rubble. Pegasus watched the monitor from his office as Devon, Michael, and Bonnie exited the vault. Devon looked at the destruction and laughed.

Pegasus watched as he raised the three cards again. There was a burst of dark light and the three disappeared. "He's done it." Pegasus said to himself. "He's stolen the Sacred Beasts."

The next day in Domino City it was business as usual. Grandpa Muto was in his store cleaning the counter when Duke, Tristan, and Tea walked into the shop.

"Ah good morning kids." Mr. Muto said.

"Good morning Mr. Muto." Tea said. "Is Yugi here?"

"He's up stairs with Joey." Grandpa said.

"Joey's here already?" Tristan asked.

"Yes he's been here for a while waiting to see if he and Yugi made the tournament." Grandpa said.

"Well we'll go up and see if there's been any development if it's alright with you sir." Duke said.

"It's perfectly fine with me Duke." Grandpa said. Duke and the others walked up the stairs and headed for Yugi's room. Tea knocked on the door.

"Come in." Yugi said. Tea opened the door and she and the guys walked in. Joey was sitting in the chair in front of Yugi's desk looking at the floor and Yugi was lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling.

"Hey Yugi. Hey Joey." Tea said.

"I take it you haven't heard from Mokuba yet uh?" asked Duke.

"Nothing yet." Yugi said.

"Don't worry about. You two are shoo-ins for this tournament." Tristan reassured them.

"Yeah well no offense Tristan but I'd feel much better if Mokuba would call and tells us that himself." Joey said.

Just then Grandpa Muto came into the room. "Sorry to bother you kids but you have a phone call Yugi." Yugi sat up from his bed and Joey looked up from the floor. Joey and Yugi exchanged looks and then Yugi walked out of his room to the living room to the phone with Joey right at his heels.

"Hello." Yugi said when he picked up the phone. "Hey Mokuba… Really? That's great!"

"What'd he say? What'd he say?" Joey asked Yugi.

"Tonight uh? We'll be there…Okay see you Mokuba." Yugi hung up the phone and turned to face Joey, Grandpa, and the others.

"Well Yuge are we in or not?" Joey asked. Yugi smiled and gave a thumbs up. Joey jumped as high as he could shouting "Alright!"

"I hate to say I told you so but I did." Tristan said.

"That's great!" Tea said. "So what's next?"

"Kaiba's holding a dinner party at his mansion to announce the participants in his tournament tonight." Yugi said.

"I'm curious to see who else made the cut." Duke said. "Obviously Kaiba's going to be in the tournament but I wonder who else is in it."

"There's only one way to find out Duke." Joey told him.

"Hold on just one minute." Tristan said. "You are allowed to bring a couple of guest's right?"

"Mokuba didn't say but I don't see why not Tristan." Yugi said.

"Alright then that settles it!" Tristan said. "I'm going to Kaiba's fancy dinner whether he likes it or not."

That night Yugi and Joey arrived at Kaiba's mansion with their friends and Grandpa. Grandpa had dressed up in a suit for the occasion.

"Grandpa I told you that you didn't have to wear a tux." Yugi told him.

"Yugi please this is a major event." Grandpa said. "There's going to be news reporters from all around the world and all kinds of famous people. I have to look my best." Yugi sighs and just shakes his head. Once inside the mansion Mokuba spots them and comes running over.

"Hey guys. Nice suit Mr. Muto." Mokuba said.

"Well at least someone thinks so." Grandpa said shooting Yugi a look.

"There sure are a lot of people here." Joey said.

"Who are all these people Mokuba?" Tea asked.

"Oh just news reporters, television reporters, and a few special guests Seto and I invited." Mokuba said.

Then a voice came from across the crowd. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Yugi boy!" Everyone turned towards the voice and saw Pegasus walking towards them.

"Speaking of special guest's." Joey said.

"Pegasus?" Tristan asked.

"Kaiba invited you to his gala dinner?" Duke asked.

"Well actually it was little Mokuba here who invited me." Pegasus said.

"I figured this was going to the greatest Duel Monsters tournament ever and it wouldn't be right not to invite the creator of Duel Monsters." Mokuba explained.

"How've you been Pegasus?" Yugi asked.

"I've been better." Pegasus said. "My company recently had a break in."

"Somebody broke into Industrial Illusions?" Tea asked shocked.

"Yes. More specifically the vault we keep some of our card plans and prototypes in." Pegasus explained. "The perpetrators managed to escape with three cards that I had created."

"Hold on a second." Joey said. "If your company just got broke into and some high class card prototypes were stolen how come you're here at Kaiba's party instead of trying to find the crooks?"

"Well for starters Joseph I don't know where they could be. And there's nothing I can really do." Pegasus explained. "I have given the police all the information I could and they will contact me when the find these thieves and the cards."

Yugi looked at Pegasus with a strange look. "_I've got a feeling he isn't telling us the whole story._" Yugi thought.

"So Yugi boy I take it you and Joey here are in the tournament?" Pegasus asked.

"You got that right." Joey said. "And just like Duelist Kingdom me and Yugi are gonna take this tournament."

"Oh aren't we full of spirit tonight." Pegasus said.

Mokuba smiled at Pegasus remark and told Yugi and Joey "Look guys all the participants are meeting in that room over there." He points to a door just to the other side of the room. "You guys can hang out in there and get something to eat until it's time to call you out with the other duelists."

"Then I guess we'll see you guys later." Yugi said. He and Joey weaved in and out of the crowd until they got to the other room. They opened the door and walked in. This room was a lot quieter than the main hall but that was only because there was only 16 people in this room.

"So these are the other duelists." Yugi said.

"Yugi would you take a look at that." Joey said pointing. Yugi looked where Joey was pointing. It was two large and long tables filled with food. "Kaiba's serving up some series fancy chow and it's all you can eat." Joey rushed over and started to load up a plate with as much as it could carry.

"It's nice to see that Joey hasn't changed much." a voice behind Yugi said. Yugi turned around to see Mako walking up to him.

Yugi greeted Mako with a handshake. "How've you been Mako?"

"I've been doing well my friend and yourself." Mako said.

"I'm alright." Yugi said. "So you made it into Kaiba's tournament too?"

"Indeed I have. I was considering not entering at first but then I heard about the level of competition that was rumored to be in this tournament and my inner duelist just couldn't resist the challenge." Mako explained.

"Well I think it's safe to say that the competition level isn't just a rumor anymore." Yugi said. "Everybody here looks like they'd be a fair challenge."

Then Joey called from across the room. "Hey Yugi check it out! They even have those little sandwich things that Kaiba served before the Battle City finals!"

"We better get over there and get something to eat before Joey eats everything." Yugi said to Mako. Mako and Yugi walked over to the food tables and decided to join Joey. Joey was starting on his third plate of food.

"I have to admit this is some of the finest food I have ever eaten." Mako said.

Joey swallowed another sandwich and said "I will admit Kaiba does have a good taste in food even though he's…"

"Even though I'm what Wheeler?" Kaiba said. Joey, Yugi, and Mako turned around to find Kaiba standing right behind Joey.

"Even though you're an egotistical jerk." Joey finished.

"You better watch it Wheeler or I just might have you disqualified right now." Kaiba threatened.

"What?!" Joey said. Joey closed his eyes, turned his head back onto his plate of food, and said to Kaiba "Oh I get it. You want to disqualify me because you're worried about going up against me and being totally humiliated when I beat you."

"Oh please. You've been trying to beat me in a duel since Duelist Kingdom and still haven't even come close." Kaiba said.

"Yeah well that's all gonna change this time Kaiba." Joey said starting to get angry.

"I doubt it." Kaiba said. He then turned his attention to Yugi. "Yugi remember this, the Pharaoh isn't here to hold your hand anymore. When it comes time for our duel it's going to be just you and me and when it's over one of use will walk away with the title King of Games." Yugi and Kaiba stared at each other for a minute and then Kaiba walked off to the other side of the room.

"I'm going to beat that guy this time or my name isn't Joey Wheeler." Joey said.

"Then what will your name be when you loss to Seto, Joey?" Mako asked.

"Very funny Mako." Joey said. He then stood up to get some more sandwiches. He reached out for the last one and somebody grabbed it at the same time. Joey looked up to see Mai holding onto the other side of the sandwich. "Mai."

"Joey." Mai said. She then looked over at the table Joey had been sitting at and saw Yugi. "And Yugi too."

"Mai." Yugi said. Yugi stood up from the table and walked over to join Joey and Mai. "Hey there Mai. Haven't seen you in a while."

"I've been traveling." Mai said. "But I got wind of this tournament and thought I'd check it out."

"Well it's great to see you Mai. We really missed you." Joey said. Mai put the sandwich back down on the plate and walked away from Yugi and Joey.

"Was it something I said?" Joey asked Yugi.

"She still hasn't gotten over the whole Orichalcos incident." Yugi said.

"But it's been months since we took down Dartz and the Orichalcos." Joey said. "You think by now she'd have gotten over it."

"Something tells me she still hasn't gotten over the way she was acting and that she was the one who trapped your soul with the Orichalcos." Yugi said. Joey and Yugi watched Mai walk over to the other side of the room.

"Looks like I've got two things to get done in this tournament." Joey said.

"What's that Joey?" Yugi asked.

"Well for starters to help Mai get over the guilt she feels." Joey said. "And the second is to finally show Kaiba that Joey Wheeler is just as good a duelist as he is if not better."

"Good luck with that." a voice said. Joey and Yugi turned to see Rex and Weevil sitting at a table next to them. "If my memory serves me you have never beaten Kaiba in a duel and I don't think that will change any time soon." Weevil said.

"Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor?" Joey said. "What the heck are you two doing here?"

"You do think Wheeler? We're here to compete in the tournament." Rex said.

"And this time we will win. And when we do we will final have our revenge and take back our statuses as the number one duelists." Weevil said.

"Dream on bug boy." Joey said. "Yugi and I have creamed yours and Dino boy's butts twice. Not to mention the fact Weevil that I beat you during the Battle City Tournament." Rex and Weevil glared at Joey.

"That may be that case Wheeler." Weevil said. "But due to contrary belief it wasn't Yugi that beat me those two times. It was his buddy the Pharaoh."

"That's right! You wouldn't have the title King of Games if it wasn't for him!" Rex told Yugi.

Yugi just looked at Weevil and Rex. "I'll admit those statements are partially true." Yugi said.

"Partially true!?" Weevil shouted.

"But when it comes time for our duel I'll be glad to show you two the skills and playing style I used to beat the Pharaoh and crush all three Egyptian God cards." Yugi said.

"You beat the God cards?" Rex asked.

"All at the same time." Joey said grinning. Rex and Weevil exchanged looks but before they could say anything else Kaiba spoke to the whole room.

"Alright listen up!" he shouted. Everyone turned to face Kaiba. "It's time to announce the participants for the tournament. Walk through the door next to me and stand on the stage. When your name is called a light will shine on you. Got it?" Kaiba said. Everyone nodded. As the duelists were walking out Kaiba turned back and said "Oh and Wheeler try not to make too much of a fool out of yourself." Then he walked out.

"One of these days Yugi I'm gonna get back at him for all the insults plus INTEREST!" Joey shouted as he stormed out on to the stage.

Out in the hall Grandpa, Duke, and Tristan were on the verge of eating all the pigs in a blanket that Kaiba had set out.

"My this food is delicious." Grandpa said.

"You think this food's good you should have seen the food Kaiba served on his blimp just before the Battle City finals." Tristan said. Then lights dimmed.

"Be quiet you guys it's starting." Tea said. Just then a light shone on the stage to reveal Roland and his microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen. On behave of the Kaiba Corporation it is my honor to introduce to you the contenders in the Duel Monsters Championship Tournament!" Roland said. The audience applauded and as Roland walked to far side of the stage. "Our first contest is none other than the famous ocean duelist Mako Tsunami!" A light shone on Mako as he waved to the crowd.

"Awesome! Mako's here too." Tea said.

"The next challenger is the former regional champion Weevil Underwood!" Roland said.

As the light shone on Weevil Roland said "Our next contest is the one and only Dino Duelist himself Rex Raptor!"

"I don't believe it!" Tristan said.

"They let bug brain and dino breath compete in this tournament?" Duke asked. "I thought Mokuba said that only the best were going to be in this."

Back on stage Roland was introducing the next duelist. "She's as strong a duelist as she is beautiful, it's Mai Valentine!"

"Guys look it's Mai!" Tea said.

"Mia?" Tristan asked.

Back on stage Joey was talking to Yugi. "Man Yuge it looks like a lot of your past opponents are in this tournament."

"That means it's going to be a little harder to win." Yugi said.

Roland was still announcing the other competitors when Joey asked "What do mean it's going to harder to win Yugi? We've dueled these guys in the past and crushed them."

"Exactly Joey. We've dueled against some of these guys more than enough to where they've pretty much know the cards in our decks and our dueling styles almost as well as we do." Yugi said. "With this knowledge they could be able to build a deck to counter of strategies and predict our every move."

"Well when you put it that way." Joey said. "But we could use this to our advantage Yugi."

"We could? How's that?" Yugi asked.

"We can use that as an excuses to try out new moves nobody has even seen yet." Joey said. "Heck maybe even bluff our way out of trouble if we're in tight spot." Yugi just chuckled but then he turned his attention back to Roland's announcements.

Roland said "Next up its Michael Knight!" The spot light shined on a guy about 6ft5' in a pair of black jeans, a red t-shirt, and a black leather jacket that matched his short dark hair. "Then the lovely Bonnie Barstow!" Bonnie was wearing the same business suit she wore at Industrial Illusions. She also had long brown hair.

"Now let's make some noise for his britishness, the stylish and debonair Mr. Devon Miles!" Devon was the oldest of the three but couldn't be older than Pegasus. He had short gray hair and he always wore a suit. When the spot lights shone on these three and they started to wave at the crowd Yugi felt a shiver go up his spine. He looked at the three duelists and started to get a funny feeling.

"_What's going on?_" Yugi asked himself. "_I feel as if there's a really dark and powerful force emitting form these three. But how could there be? And even if there is how could I feel it? In the past I could feel stuff like that but that was mostly because of the Pharaoh and the Millennium Puzzle around my neck._"

Back down in the audience Pegasus stared at Devon and his companions in disbelief. Then in a low voice Pegasus said "Strange. I know Devon wouldn't go through all the trouble to steal the Sacred Beast cards just to help him win a Duel Monsters tournament. Whatever it is he's planning to do he's going to do it some point during this tournament. And when he makes his move I just prey we can stop him before something terrible happens."

"Next up it's the great Jumpin' Joey Wheeler!" Roland said. "Then it's our tournament host and organizer. The president and CEO of the Kaiba Corporation Seto Kaiba!" The spot lights shone on Joey and Kaiba. As Kaiba just stood there with his arms crossed Joey was waving to the fans and smiling for the cameras.

"And last but not least!" Roland said. "Our final participant needs no introduction. Ladies and gentlemen, duelist of all ages and ranks! I give you the King of Games himself…YUGI MUTO!" The light shone on Yugi and the crowd went crazy. Yugi smiled a little and waved.

"During the course of this tournament we shall see sweet victories and witness tragic defeats." Roland explained. "But when the dust clears and the action is over one of these contenders shall walk away with the honor of being the number one ranked duelist in the world and hold the title King of Games!" The crowd cheered again.

"Man I can't wait for this tournament to start tomorrow." Joey said to Yugi excitedly.

On the other side of the stage Devon was looking at Yugi as Yugi waved to the crowd. "_I can feel it._" Devon thought. "_Young Yugi still has some of Pharaoh Atem's magical energy flowing through his veins and lying dormant inside his heart. Now all I need do is get him to tap into that power and then take it from him. And when I do I shall offer it up to the Sacred Beast cards to further their own power and then using the beasts I shall bring this world to its knees."_


	6. First Round: Yugi VS Weevil

The Duel Monsters Championship Tournament was set to get under way at nine a clock sharp. People had been pouring into the Domino City Duel Stadium by the hundreds since six that morning. Yugi, Joey, Tea, Tristan, Duke, and Grandpa all arrived at the stadium around eight thirty. As they were walking towards the stadium Joey was overly excited.

"Take it easy man." Tristan told him. "You get any more excited you just might wet yourself."

"I can't help man." Joey said. "This tournament is going to rock! I'm gonna take out every duelist I face so that when the dust settles the last two duelist to fight will be me and Yugi."

"Well at least he's got confidence." Duke said.

"Now if only he had the skill to back his talk." Tea joked.

"Very funny guys." Joey said.

"Hey Yugi! Joey!" The gang turned and saw Bakura running towards them.

"Hey Bakura!" Joey said greeting his friend.

"I was wondering when you two would get here." Bakura said. "The tournament starts in half an hour."

"Well we would have been here sooner but some of us had to have three helpings of eggs and pancakes for breakfast." Yugi explained looking at Joey and Tristan.

"Hey I had to bulk up man. You can't duel on an empty stomach Yuge it's not good for your health." Joey explained.

"Yeah and I just love pancakes." Tristan said.

"Anyway I'm glad you got here. Mokuba's going crazy trying to find you." Bakura said.

"Where is he?" Yugi asked.

"Follow me and I'll show you." The gang followed Bakura through the stadium. Joey couldn't help but notice the duel disk on Bakura's arm.

"Hey Bakura how come you have your duel disk with you?" he asked.

"Well what else could I use to duel with Joey?" Bakura asked.

"To duel with?" Joey asked sounding confused.

"You're in the tournament Bakura?" Yugi asked.

"Yes I am." Bakura said. "I arrived at Kaiba's dinner party just as it was time to announce the participates."

"Then how come we didn't see you or hear your name called?" Joey asked.

"Well you were too busy working the crowd and posing for every camera man there." Bakura told Joey. "As for Yugi, he seemed to have something important on his mind."

They all approached an elevator and got in. Bakura pressed the button for the top floor. When they got out Bakura led them down the hallway.

"Bakura where are you taking us?" Duke asked.

"Kaiba set up private booths for each participant and their friends." Bakura said. "But since the three of us are friends Kaiba figured we just share a booth."

"Figures." Joey said. Bakura led them to their booth and when they walked in everyone couldn't help but be impressed. The booth had large comfortable chairs in front of the glass to watch the duels and its own private bar. There was also a telephone and a computer with internet hook up.

"Get a load of this place." Tea said.

"Once again Kaiba pulls out all the stops. Proving that he has got some style." Duke said.

Tristan had jumped behind the bar and began to inspect the refrigerators. "Would you get a look at all this food! And it's free!"

"I say Kaiba does know how to treat his competitors." Grandpa said settling into one of the chairs. Tea joined him and admired the view.

"Check this out guys. You can see everything from up here." Tea said.

"That's the whole idea." Mokuba said walking in.

"Hey Mokuba." Yugi said.

"It's about time you guys got here." Mokuba said. "The participants are gathering down in the arena for the opening ceremonies."

Yugi nodded and turned back to Joey and Bakura. "Let's go guys. It's time to duel." Joey leapt in excitement and followed Yugi and Bakura out the door back to the elevator. Inside the elevator Bakura was almost as anxious as Joey.

"I say this should be an interesting tournament for us Yugi." Bakura said.

"What makes you say that Bakura?" Yugi asked.

"Well for one thing it will be the first tournament you've fought without the Pharaoh and it will be the first tournament I get to duel in without the Thief King Bakura taking control." Bakura explained.

"Yeah should be interesting." Yugi said half depressed. The thought of dueling in a tournament without the Pharaoh, he had almost forgotten about it. They got out the elevator and followed the other contestants to the arena.

"So now that it's going to be you duelin' what kind of deck are you using Bakura?" Joey asked.

"Oh I'm using the fiend deck that the spirit of the Millennium Ring always used." Bakura said.

"What!? You're actually going to use that creeps deck!?" Joey asked.

"Well yes." Bakura said. "Fiends were always my favorite kind of monster and the spirit did put together a descant deck."

"I suppose he did. After all that deck nearly beat Yugi and Kaiba." Joey said. The three of them walked out to the arena and stood in the middle with everyone else.

"Speaking of Kaiba where is he?" Yugi asked looking around. Just then Roland came up to the mike and begun to speak.

"Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the Duel Monsters Championship Tournament!" he shouted. "And now make some noise for your tournament organizer and host, Seto Kaiba!" Kaiba walked up and took the mike from Roland.

"Well guess we know where Kaiba went." Joey said.

"Alright, I'm going to make this brief. This tournament was designed with one purpose in mind. To find out how deserves the title King of Games." Kaiba announced.

"The duels fought today will be the greatest any one has ever seen and when it's all over only one duelist will have proven themselves worthy enough to hold the title as King of Games." Kaiba looked down at all the participants and stopped at Yugi. "And I expect nothing less but your best. Duel without mercy and with every ounce of strength and skill you can muster. This is not just a tournament, this is war!"

After Kaiba finished the entire crowd went nuts with applause and excitement. Kaiba still had his gaze fixed on Yugi and Yugi stared right back. "_When this tournament is over Yugi we shall finally find out which one of use deserves to be the King of Games._" Kaiba thought. He turned around handed the mike back to Roland and got off the stage.

"Leave it to Kaiba to make this tournament all about him." Joey said. "He did this exact same thing during the Grand Championship."

"But Joey the Grand Championship and this tournament couldn't have happened without Kaiba." Bakura said. "He organized both tournaments, paid for them, and provided the spaces to host it in. I think he deserves a little bit of time in the spot light."

"That may be but I'm still going to take him down if we have to duel each other." Joey said glaring at Kaiba as he got in line with the other duelists.

"Now let's get this tournament started!" Roland yelled. The screen behind him came to life showing two blank blocks. "To ensure fair play before each duel a pair of participants will be chosen at random by the Kaiba Corp computer system. Now let's get our first pair of duelists!"

On the screen pictures of each duelist were flashing by. In the first box Weevils picture appeared. "Our first contestant is the former regional champion Weevil Underwood! And his opponent will be…" The second box stopped flashing and showed a picture of Yugi. "The King of Games himself Yugi Muto!" The crowd cheered some more as the duelist left the field.

"Way to go Yuge!" Joey said.

"First duel of the tournament and you get to be in it." Bakura said.

"Should be fun." Yugi said.

"I wouldn't count on that." Weevil said. "I plan to take you apart Yugi."

"Dream on bug boy." Joey said. "Yugi's creamed your sorry butt before and he can do it again."

"As I recall Yugi wasn't the one dueling against me before, it was the Pharaoh." Weevil said. "Everyone knows that it was the Pharaoh who was the real King of Games. No one could defeat him and without his help you couldn't duel your way out of a paper bag Yugi."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that Weevil." Yugi said smiling. "It is true that the two times we dueled it was the Pharaoh who did most of the dueling. But I was the one who defeated the Pharaoh during the Ceremonial Battle along with his three Egyptian God cards."

"You beat the Pharaoh and the god cards?" Weevil asked sounding nervous. Yugi merely nodded and started too walked away.

Joey and Bakura turned to follow and Joey said "And for your records Weevil Yugi beat all three of the gods at once."

"He beat Ra, Slifer, and Obelisk all at once!?" Weevil shouted. Joey walked away smirking.

"Something tells me we just scared the living daylights out of him." Joey said still smirking.

"Maybe but that doesn't mean he isn't going to try using every trick he can think of to beat me." Yugi said.

"Relax Yuge. You're dueling Weevil." Joey told him. "It's gonna be a piece of cake man."

"We're going to head up to the booth to watch the duel Yugi." Bakura said. "Now go and get him."

"Okay." Yugi said. Joey and Bakura got into the elevator and went up to the booth as Yugi and Weevil took the field. Bakura and Joey entered the booth just as Yugi was about to make his first move.

"Alright Weevil it's time to duel." Yugi said drawing. "First I'll place my Big Shield Gardna in defense mode and then I'll place one card face down."

"After all that talk just now that's all you're going to play? Then allow me to show you what a real move looks like!" Weevil said. (Yugi hand-4,life points-4000/Weevil hand-6,life points-4000) "First I'll summon Pinch Hopper in attack mode. And then I'll activate my Eradicating Aerosol to destroy all the insect monsters on the field. And with my Pinch Hoppers destruction I can special summon my Insect Queen from my hand!"

"You call that a real move?" Yugi asked. "That's the same move you use in every duel you fight Weevil. Those old tricks won't work against me."

"Well then I suppose I'll have to use some new ones like this! I activate my Insect Crown equip spell!" Weevil shouted. A golden crown appeared and settled itself on the Insect Queens head.

"Big deal so now his queen has some bling." Joey said.

"That's more than just a piece of jewelry Joey." Grandpa said.

"Thanks to her crown my Insect Queen gains 500 attack points and she can now attack without me having to sacrifice monsters." Weevil said. "So now go my Queen destroy his Big Shield Gardna!"

"My Gardna may be gone but with its destruction I can now use Sole Rope!" Yugi shouted. "By paying 1000 life points I can special summon one four star monster from my deck. I'll summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior."

"Then I shall place one card face down and use my Queens special ability. When she destroys one of your monsters I can special summon an insect token during my end phase." Weevil said. "And let's not forget her majesties other effect. For every insect on the field including herself she gains 200 attack points putting her attack points at 3100."

"It's my move Weevil." Yugi said. (Yugi hand-5, life points-3000/ Weevil hand-2, life points-4000) "Perfect now I have all I need to squash your bug. I send Alpha, Beta, and Gamma the Magnet Warriors to the graveyard in order to call forth Valkyrion the Magnet Warrior."

"Awesome! Yugi's Magnet Warrior has more than enough points to take out Weevils Queen." Tristan exclaimed.

"I activate my trap card Parasite Worm!" Weevil said. "Thanks to this card I can destroy your Magnet Warrior and decrease your life points by its attack points."

"I activate Valkyrion special ability." Yugi said. "By sending him to the graveyard I can now summon my three magnet warrior's back to the field."

"So you avoided my trap card? Big deal!" Weevil said. "None of those tiny creatures can defeat my Insect Queen."

"I end my turn with this." Yugi said. "_I need to figure out a way to squash Weevil's bugs before he depletes my life points._" Yugi thought. "_My magnet warriors may be decent cards but they're not going to last long against Insect Queen._"

"I draw!" Weevil cried. (Yugi hand-3, life points-3000/ Weevil hand-3, life points-4000) "I place one monster face down in defense mode. Now I shall activate my Book of Taiyou. With this I can flip the Man Eater Bug I just played into face up attack position."

"The Man Eater Bug!?" Tea yelled.

"But with that Weevil will be able to take out one of Yugi's monsters." Duke said.

"Hang on Yuge." Joey said. "I've got a feeling this turn's going to be a little rough."

"Now thanks to my bugs' effect I can destroy your Gamma the Magnet Warrior." Weevil said. "And since there is another insect on the field Insect Queen gains 200 more points putting her at 3300. Now I activate my next card equip spell Insect Barrage!"

"I've never heard of that card." Yugi said. "What's it do."

"Well first it can only be equipped to an insect monster like my Insect Queen. Then it changes all my other insects to defense mode." Weevil said. "And now in addition to her normal attack Insect Barrage allows my Insect Queen one more additional attack so long as I sacrifice another insect first."

"No way!" Yugi shouted.

"So bug boy's allowed more than one attack now." Tristan said.

"Only as long as that equip cards in play and only if he sacrifices his monsters first." Bakura said.

"But that's a good thing." Tea said. "Weevil's Insect Queen gains extra attack points so long as there are other bugs on the field. So if Weevil keeps sacrificing them..."

"It's not going to matter." Joey said.

"Joey's right. Weevil's queen gives him an insect token for each monster it takes out." Duke said. "With that Weevil can keep summoning other monsters and sacrifice the tokens."

"Never have I seen such an impressive strategy." Grandpa said. "Weevil has found a way not only to keep his monsters points high but has also found a way around its attack handicap and enabled it to attack more than once."

"So now Insect Queen take out his Alpha the Magnet Warrior!" Weevil commanded. "Next I sacrifice my token so my queen can destroy Beta!"

"Yugi's wide open now!" Duke yelled.

"Now I send my Man Eater Bug to the graveyard so my queen can attack you directly!" Weevil shouted. Insect Queen shot a stream of green light at Yugi and it struck him right in the chest. Yugi's life points dropped by 2900 points.

"_Since Weevil had to send his other monsters to the graveyard for those extra attacks it reduced the damage I would have taken._" Yugi thought. "_However my life points still took a big hit and if I don't manage to think of something fast I'm a goner._"

"I shall end my turn with this." Weevil said. "And with it I get two monster tokens. Two for both the magnet warriors my queen exterminated putting her points back up to 3300."

"Then it's my turn!" Yugi said. (Yugi life points-100, hand-4/ Weevil life points-4000, hand-0) "I use my Pot of Greed to draw two more cards from my deck. Next I place one card face down in defense mode and end my turn."

"To me then." Weevil said. (Yugi life points-100, hand-3/ Weevil life points-4000, hand-1) _"I can use this card later in case Yugi over powers my Insect Queen._" Weevil thought. "I place one card face down and have my Insect Queen attack!" The green light hit Yugi's card and there was a cloud of smoke from the explosion. "Another card bites the dust." Weevil said. Yugi smirked. From the dust a pink blob was seen sitting in front of Yugi.

"Hey what's the deal?" Weevil asked. "Your monster should have been destroyed."

"Sorry Weevil but my Marshmallon can't be destroyed in battle." Yugi said. "And now I use his other effect. Since you attacked this card while it was face down in defense mode you take 1000 points in damage."

"How dare you stop my beautiful monster with that sorry excuse for a desert topping." Weevil growled.

"I guess it's my turn." Yugi said. (Yugi life points-100, hand-4/ Weevil life points-3000, hand-0) "I use Graceful Charity to draw three cards from my deck but in exchange I must toss away two cards." Yugi pulled his three cards. "_This card gives me an idea but I need to get a few more cards first. Then I'll have everything I need to beat Weevil._" Yugi tossed his two cards in the graveyard. "I place one card face down and summon Block Man in defense mode. That will end my turn."

"My draw then." Weevil said. (Yugi life points-100, hand-2/ Weevil life points-3000, hand-1) "I use my Pot of Greed to draw two cards. Next I will place both of them face down and attack your Block Man! And with him gone I get one more insect token raising my queens' power to 3500!"

"Weevil's Insect Queen's attack points are equal to his Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth's." Joey said.

"That may be but unlike that moth Insect Queen can keep gaining attack points." Bakura said.

"My turn." Yugi said. (Yugi life points-100, hand-3/ Weevil life points-3000, hand-0)

"I activate the Blast with Chain trap card and equip it to my Insect Queen." Weevil said.

"Now his bug has an even 4000 points!" Tea said.

"I think Weevil didn't activate that trap for its power boost effect." Grandpa said.

"Now I revel my Mystical Space Typhone. Now I can destroy Blast with Chain." Weevil said. "Since my trap card was destroyed while equipped to a monster I am now allowed to destroy on card on the field."

"Oh no!" Yugi shouted.

"Oh yes!" Weevil said. "Say good bye to Marshmallon!"

"How's Yugi supposed to fend off Weevil's queen without his Marshmallon?" Tristan asked.

"Okay time for a change in strategy." Yugi said. "First I'll use Card of Sanctity so we can both draw until we hold six cards. Then I place one card face down. Next I'll use Monster Reborn to bring back Valkyrion. Then I'll use his ability to send him back to the graveyard to summon back Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. And that will end my turn."

"Then it's my turn." Weevil said. (Yugi life points-100, hand-4/ Weevil life points-3000, hand-7) "Now go Insect Queen attack Alpha the Magnet Warrior. Now I send away my first token to attack and destroy Beta! Then I use my second token so I can take out Gamma!"

"Not so fast Weevil! I use the effect of the Electromagnetic Turtle that's in my graveyard." Yugi said. "It allows me to protect my magnet warrior from your attack."

"That turtle's ability only works once a duel Yugi so now I can send my last token to the graveyard and finish off your monster!" Weevil said.

"Now that all of Yugi's monsters are gone Weevil can attack directly!" Tea said.

"Yeah but he doesn't have any more monsters to sacrifice so he can attack." Duke pointed out.

"But Weevil still has his face down card." Bakura said.

"Now is the time to end this." Weevil said. "I activate my facedown card. I play the quick play spell Insect Fusion!"

"What the heck does that card do?" Joey asked.

"Insect Fusion is a special fusion card made just for insect cards." Grandpa said. "With it Weevil can now fuse together his monsters to summon an even mightier insect."

"Now Yugi behold, by sending two cards in my hand to the graveyard I am now allowed to fuse my Insect Queen with the Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth in my hand!" Weevil shouted. "And now come forth the almighty Ultimate Insect!" Weevil's monster had four wings in the same shape and color of his moths but it had Insect Queens body.

"It has 4000 points." Yugi said.

"That's only for starters. My Ultimate Insect gains 300 attack points for every insect in my graveyard." Weevil explained. "Granted there's only three but that still puts my monsters points at 4900."

"And since Weevil's Insect Fusion was a quick play spell the turn's still in the battle phase." Duke said.

"But then that means Weevil could attack Yugi and end this." Tristan said.

"Don't give up yet guys. This is Yugi we're taking about." Joey said. "Knowing him he's got a plan."

"Let's hope he can last long enough to put it into action." Bakura said.

"Now it's time for the grand finale! Ultimate Insect attack Yugi's life points directly!" Weevil commanded. Ultimate Insect flapped its four wings hard to create a cyclone that went towards Yugi.

Yugi just smirked and said "I activate the special ability of Kuriboh. Now by sending Kuriboh from my hand to the graveyard I won't receive any damage from your attack." Kuriboh appeared in front of Yugi and took the attack.

"How dare you stop my Ultimate Insect with a mere Kuriboh!" Weevil shouted. "Next turn I shall make you pay Yugi! You shall fall before my superior monsters!"

"We're about to find out aren't we?" Yugi whispered to himself. Yugi took hold of the top card of his deck. "_Alright heart of the cards it's time._" Yugi thought. He drew his card and looked at it with excitement. "Ready Weevil? Cause it's time for me to end this." Yugi said.

"You're bluffing! There's nothing in your deck that can beat my monster!" Weevil said.

"You're right for a change Weevil. The cards I need to win this aren't in my deck but rather in my hand and in my graveyard." Yugi said.

"In the graveyard?" Weevil asked confusingly.

"First I'll use Cost Down. By sending one card from my hand to the graveyard I am allowed to reduce the level of all monsters in my hand by two stars. Now I can summon the monster I just drew without a sacrifice. I summon the Dark Magician Girl!" Yugi shouted. "Next I reveal my face down card Sage's Stone! Now that Dark Magician Girl's on my field I can special summon the Dark Magician from my deck!"

"It's going to take more than just those two magicians of yours to win this duel Yugi!" Weevil said.

"Then I guess I'll just have to use my other face down card. Go Knights Title!" Yugi said. "Now with the power of this magic card I can send Dark Magician to the graveyard which means I am now allowed to summon the Dark Magician Knight from my hand, deck, or graveyard. So now from my graveyard I summon the mighty Dark Magician Knight!"

"Hate to break it to you Yugi but your so called mighty knight has only 2500 points. There's no way it will beat my Ultimate Insect." Weevil said.

"Not in an attack but with his special ability it will be a different story." Yugi said.

"A special ability?" Weevil asked.

"Once my knight has been summoned he can destroy one card that's one the field." Yugi explained. "A card like your Ultimate Insect!" Dark Magician Knight leapt in to the air and fell down upon Weevils monster and with one slash of the knight's sword Weevil's monster was destroyed. "And now that your life points are wide open, Dark Magician Knight attack Weevil directly!" The Magician Knight slashed Weevil with his sword causing him to loss 2500 life points.

"All that talk and excitement about winning the duel this turn and I still have 500 life points left." Weevil said. "I knew you could only win if the Pharaoh was holding your hand."

"You seem to have forgotten about my Dark Magician Girl Weevil. She hasn't gotten the chance to attack yet and it's still my battle phase." Yugi said.

"But then that means…" Weevil said.

"It means you loss to me again Weevil." Yugi said. "Go Dark Magician Girl! Blast away Weevils life points with Dark Burning attack!" From the Magician Girls wand a ball of energy was fired. When it hit Weevil there was a small explosion and Weevils points fell to zero and Weevil fell to the floor.

"Alright! What'd I tell ya?!" Joey yelled. "Yugi's still got the moves!"

"And it's over!" Roland shouted. "The winner is Yugi Muto!"

Yugi walked over to Weevil. "What do you want?" Weevil asked angrily.

Yugi held out his hand. "What some help up?" he asked. Weevil just looked at him. "That was a great duel Weevil. That combo with your Insect Queen was pretty great." Weevil swatted Yugi's hand away.

"I don't know what you're playing at Yugi but it won't work!" Weevil said standing up. "The next time we duel I will make sure to crush you into oblivion!"

As Weevil walked of stage Yugi thought "_Something's never change._"

Yugi took the elevator back up to join the gang in the booth. When he got out Yugi heard someone calling his name. Yugi turned to see who it was and saw Devon Miles coming up to him. "Hello Mr. Muto my name is Devon Miles." the English man said.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Miles." Yugi said. He and Yugi shook hands but when Yugi took Devon's hand he felt a strange feeling.

"I must say that duel of yours was exciting. The way you pulled off the win at the end was spectacular." Devon said.

"Thanks." Yugi said. "Well I have to get going. My friends are waiting for me. It was nice to meet you Mr. Miles."

"Nice to meet you as well Yugi." Devon said.

As Yugi walked down the hall he wondered about the feeling he had gotten. "_What's going on? First it's that weird nightmare I keep having and now I keep sensing some sort of power from that Devon guy._" Yugi thought. "_Is it possible he possess some sort of power similar to that of the shadow realm? But that's impossible. Maybe I'm just being paranoid._"

At the other end of the hall Devon was watching Yugi walk towards his booth. "_Soon I shall face young Yugi in a duel and when I do I shall drain him of his power and feed it to the Sacred Beasts_" Devon thought_." Once I accomplish this task the Beasts power will know no bounds and I shall rule this earth as king._"


	7. Bakura's Hidden Power

Yugi reached the door to his booth and opened it. When he did Yugi was immediately greeted by loud cheers from his friends and grandpa. Joey ran up and started to give him a bear hug.

"I knew you could pull it off Yugi! I just knew it!" Joey said.

"That's great Joey." Yugi said. "But do you think you could ease up on the grip? I can't breathe!"

"Sorry man." Joey let Yugi go and the two of them walked over to the bar. Tristan and Duke were standing behind it fixing something to eat.

Joey sat down in front of Tristan. "Bar keeps a cool refreshing beverage for me and my friend."

"Would you settle for a lemon lime soda?" Duke asked sliding two cans to them.

"Well if it's all you got I suppose I can live with it." Joey said.

"Well done Yugi. You won your first duel of the tournament." Grandpa said.

"Thanks Grandpa but don't get too excited." Yugi said. "We still have a long way to go."

"It won't be too long if you keep playing like you did against Weevil." Tristan said.

"Hey guys Roland's getting ready to announce the next duel." Tea told them.

"And now for our next two competitors!" Roland shouted. "First off it's up in comer Garrett Levi!" The screens showed a teenager with short black hair.

"I've heard of this guy." Duke said. "He's supposed to be a pretty good duelist."

"How good a duelist?" Tea asked.

"I heard he entered the hundred duelist free for all a few months back." Duke said.

"The hundred duelist free for all?" Yugi asked.

"Basically one hundred duelist gathered together in one place to duel each other all day." Duke explained. "Whoever was left standing was declared the winner."

"Why didn't we hear of this?" Joey asked.

"It took place while you guys were over in Egypt helping Atem regain his memories and beat the Thief King." Duke said.

"So this Garrett kid beat a hundred duelist single handed in one day?" Tristan asked. Duke nodded his head yes.

"Dear me I don't envy the person who has to face him." Bakura said.

Roland continued on with his announcement. "And now Garrett's opponent will be...Ryo Bakura!"

"Oh dear." Bakura moaned.

"What's the matter Bakura?" Grandpa asked.

"I was kind of hoping to duel an easy opponent for my first round. Not a guy who beat one hundred duelists single handed." Bakura admitted.

"So the kids got some skill but that doesn't mean that his skills are better than yours." Joey said.

"Yes but that's just it." Bakura said. "I'm not sure of my dueling skills."

"What do mean dude?" Tristan asked.

"Well whenever I would duel it was the spirit of the Millennium Ring that would duel." Bakura said. "I'm not even sure I have any skills let alone enough to defeat Levi."

"But you're in the tournament which means you have to have beat Kaiba's dueling robot." Duke stated.

"Yes but when the duel was over I had just less than 2000 life points left." Bakura said. "I think the only reason Mokuba let me in was because I'm your friend." Yugi walked up to his friend and placed his hand on Bakura's shoulder.

"You're going to be fine Bakura. You have what it takes to win." Yugi said. "All you have to do is believe in yourself as much as we believe in you." Bakura looked around at his friends' smiles and Joey's thumbs up. Bakura then smiled and put on a serious look.

"You're right Yugi. I can do this without the spirit and I will win this duel!" Bakura said. Bakura headed for the door. "Wish me luck guys."

"Good luck Bakura." Tea said.

"Show this wanna be what true duelin's all about!" Joey shouted.

"Always remember to trust in yourself and your deck." Grandpa told him. Bakura nodded and headed for the elevator.

Elsewhere in the stadium Devon, Bonnie, and Michael were sitting in their booth discussing the next duel.

"Devon may I ask a question?" Michael asked.

"Of course you may my friend." Devon replied.

"Didn't you say that this Bakura kid housed an ancient spirit as well?" Michael asked.

"Indeed he did." Devon answered. "He was the vessel of the legendary Thief King Bakura. The being that unleashed Zorc the Dark One and nearly brought the Pharaoh Atem to his knees."

"Do you think it is possible that this Bakura contains some of the dark energies that his Yami possessed?" Michael inquired.

"It's entirely possible." Devon said. "If he does possess some power this duel may just provide the answer."

"And if he does possess the powers of the Thief King what do we do then?" Bonnie asked.

"We add him to our list of people whose powers to drain and feed to the Sacred Beasts." Devon told her. "Right after Yugi Muto."

Back down on the arena Bakura walked out on to the field muttering to himself "You can do this. You can do this." He looked across the field to see Garrett Levi taking his position.

"I hope you're ready to duel." Garrett told him. "Because I'm not holding back."

"I was about to say the same thing to you." Bakura smirked. "I just hope you're as good as my friends claim otherwise defeating you won't be as fulfilling."

"I'm confused." Joey said. "Is that trash talk or just Bakura being Bakura?"

"A little bit of both." Yugi told him. Bakura and Garrett activated their duel disks and drew their beginning hands.

"I shall start." Bakura said as he drew his card. Bakura looked at his hand and thought "_I don't know what kind of deck this chap is using. Maybe I should play a monster in defense mode to draw him into attacking. Then I can figure out what type of deck he uses._"

"Come on already." Garrett whined. "Are you going to play a card or not?"

"I shall place one monster face down in defense mode." Bakura said. "Then I shall place one card face down to read my turn."

"Then it's my turn." Garrett said. (Bakura life points-4000, hand-4/ Garrett life points-4000, hand-6) "First I'll activate my Mountain field spell." Garrett said. "With this card in play all dragon, thunder, and wing-beast types gain 200 attack points." The field spell slot sprung open on Garrett's duel disk and once the card was in the slot shut, changing the scenery around the duel field. Now it looked as if Bakura and Garrett were dueling in a small valley surrounded by mountains.

As Bakura took in the change in scenery Garrett continued his move. "Now I summon Sonic Duck in attack mode." A goofy looking green duck wearing a red scarf around its neck and a bucket on its head appeared in front of Garrett.

Back up in the booth Joey and Tristan couldn't help but laugh at the sight of this monster. "That thing looks totally ridicules." Tristan said as he laughed.

"It looks more like a dinner special to me." Joey said.

"You boys should know better than to judge a monster on its looks." Grandpa told them.

"Now Bakura due to Mountains affect my Sonic Duck gains 200 attack points. Increasing its total to 1900." Garrett explained. "Now Sonic Duck attack his monster!" The duck charged Bakura's card. The card flipped up to revel the Headless Knight.

As the knight emerged on to the field it was suddenly ran over by Sonic Duck. After the smoke cleared the Headless Knight was flat and covered in webbed feet markings. The knight exploded into pieces as Sonic Duck waddled over back to its side of the field. "I think I'll place a card face down and end my turn." Garrett said.

"Very well then, I draw." Bakura said. (Bakura life points-4000, hand-5/ Garrett life points-4000, hand-3) Bakura checked out his card only to find it was Polymerization. "Now how can I use this to beat that duck?" Bakura pondered. "If I still had my knight I could have fused him with the Earl of Demise to create the Duke of Demise. But perhaps there's another way."

"How come Bakura's taking so long to make a move?" Tea asked.

"Bakura's style of dueling must be to analyze the field and all the cards on it in his hand to come up with the best possible move." Duke said.

"Man that is so the opposite of how Yami Bakura used to duel." Joey said. "That guy went on instinct and never looked back."

"Would you make a move already?" Garrett yelled. "I'd like to win this duel sometime today!"

"You'll be sorry you said that after I play Polymerization." Bakura told him. "Now I can fuse my Earl of Demise with my Dark-Hex Sealed Fusion to summon the Duke of Demise."

"Wait a second, you're Duke requires the Earl of Demise and the Headless Knight in order to be summoned." Garrett stated.

"That's true but the Dark Hex-Sealed Fusion allows me to use it as the replacement of any monster during a fusion summoning." Bakura explained. "And now my Duke attack Garrett's Sonic Duck!"

"Way to go Bakura." Joey cheered.

"If he can keep this up Bakura just might win this." Duke said.

"It's my turn." Garrett said. (Bakura life points-4000, hand-2/ Garrett life points-3900, hand-4) "First I revel my Call of the Haunted trap card. With it I can bring back my Sonic Duck."

"_There's only one reason he'd bring back that duck._" Yugi thought.

"Next I tribute my Sonic Duck in order to summon Swift Birdman Joe to the field and thanks to Mountain his attack points raise to 2500." Garrett said. Then a monster with the body of a guy but with bird like arms and legs and claws appeared on the field. "And the best thing about this guy is that he can now send all of your spells and traps back to your hand." The birdman flapped his wings once and just like that Bakura's card was swept off the field back into his hand.

"Next I'll use Raigeki to destroy your Duke of Demise." A lightning bolt came down from the sky and struck Bakura's duke destroying him. "And now Swift Birdman Joe attack Bakura's life points directly!" Garrett commanded. Joe took to the air and flew at Bakura. The monster then raised his left talon hand and slashed Bakura across the chest causing him to loss 2500 life points.

Back up in their booth Tristan, Joey, Tea, Duke, Grandpa, and Yugi shouted "Bakura!" Bakura fell to one knee for a moment trying to catch his breath.

"Is he alright?" Tea asked.

"He'll be alright." Yugi said. "It looks like that attack just knocked some wind out of him."

"Not to mention tons of life points." Tristan said. Bakura got back up and drew his next card.

"I believe it's my turn." he said. (Bakura life points-1500, hand-4/ Garrett life points-3900, hand-2) "First I activate the Gravekeeper's Servant magic card and then I shall place one card face down. Finally I place a monster face down in defense mode and end my turn."

"Then it's my move." Garrett said. (Bakura life points-1500, hand-1/ Garrett life points-3900, hand-3) "I summon Sonic Bird (attack-1400) in attack mode. Now I attack your monster with my Sonic Bird!"

"Not so fast Garrett! Because of my magic card whenever you declare an attack you must send the top card of your deck to the graveyard." Bakura said. Garrett drew his top card and sent it to the grave yard and Sonic Bird went on the attack. When Sonic Bird slashed Bakura's card a giant purple orb appeared and then exploded sending purple goop all over the field.

"What was that card?" Garrett asked.

"That was my Giant Germ and when it's destroyed in battle my opponent losses 500 life points." Bakura said. "And that's not all." Then the goop all over the field started to come together and pool in front of Bakura's feet.

"What's going on?" Tea asked.

"It's just like Terminator 2." Joey said. "You blast it apart and then it reforms!" Once the goop had gathered together and reformed there were two Giant Germs on Bakura's field.

"How did you get two more monsters Bakura?" Garrett asked.

"Not only does my germ reduce your life points but after it's destroyed I can summon any and all Giant Germs that may be in my deck." Bakura asked.

"Doesn't impress me any. I attack your second germ ball with Swift Birdman Joe." Garrett said sending his top card to the graveyard. "Then I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Not bad." Duke commented. "Bakura was able to lower this guy's life points by 1000 without really doing anything."

"It's my turn." Bakura said. (Bakura life points-1500, hand-2/ Garrett life points-2900, hand-0) "I activate my Germ Spreader trap card. With this I can now summon any Giant Germs from my hand or graveyard to the field in defense mode as long as I send one monster from my deck to the graveyard. So I shall send away my Spirit of the Harp"

"So now you have three useless germs on the field." Garrett scoffed. "What good could they be?"

"Allow me to show you by activating the Thunder Crash spell card." Bakura said. "Now by destroying all monsters on my field I can inflict 300 points of damage per monster to your life points." Three bolts of lightning shot from the spell card through the three Giant Germs. The bolts continued on to strike Garrett. He shouted as the lightning surged all over his body and his life points dropped by 900.

"Next I shall use my Graceful Charity to draw three cards. Only now I must send two of them to the graveyard." Bakura said. "And now I shall remove my three Giant Germs from play as well as the Spirit of the Harp that's in my graveyard!"

"Why would you do that?" Garrett asked.

"So I could special summon this card to the field!" Bakura told him. "I play Sky Scourge Norleras (attack-2400) in attack mode!" Then descending from the sky was a monster with a skeleton head. It landed behind Bakura and everyone could see this beast more clearly. It had a muscular body with bony fingers and sharp claw like nails on the end of each one. The monster had two scythe shaped wings and horns coming out of the sides of its head.

"Now I shall use my Norleras special effect." Bakura said. "By giving up 1000 life points all cards on our fields and in our hands go to the graveyard."

"Why would Bakura do that?" Tea asked. "It'd be easier just to attack right?"

"Maybe he's worried about the face down card." Duke suggested. "Maybe he thinks it's something that could turn the attack against him."

"Either that or Bakura has another move in store." Grandpa said.

"What ya talking about grandpa?" Tristan asked.

"Summoning Norleras was a special summon which means Bakura is still allowed to normal summon a monster still. And after Norleras effect is resolved Bakura can draw one card from his deck." Grandpa explained.

"He must be thinkin' that whatever card he's gonna draw will win him the duel." Joey said.

"But how's Bakura know what he's going to draw?" Tristan asked.

"Odds are he doesn't." Yugi said. "My hunch is that he's hoping that his deck will provide him the card he needs to win this."

"The old heart of the cards right Yuge?" Joey asked. Yugi nodded and turned his attention back to the duel.

"Now I give up 1000 of my life points to destroy our cards." Bakura said.

"But first I'm going to activate my Wind Bomb trap card." Garrett declared. "When a wind monster one my field is sent to the graveyard you take 400 points in damage."

"But that will leave Bakura with only 100 life points!" Tristan shouted. Bakura's Norleras began to emit a dark purple glow that soon erupted from its body engulfing the entire field. All three monsters were destroyed in a loud explosion.

"And now Bakura my Wind Bomb now activates." Garrett said. Bakura looked up into the sky to see a missile coming towards him. The missile crashed into the ground by Bakura's feet and exploded sending him flying through the air to the farthest side of his side of the arena.

"Oh dear." Grandpa said.

"Do you think he's alright?" Tea asked.

"You guys see him moving down there?" Joey asked Tristan and Duke.

"I can't tell from up here." Tristan said squinting.

"Try looking up at the monitors." Duke told him. Everyone looked at the monitors to see Bakura lying there trying to get up.

Back down in the arena Garrett was watching him. "If I were you I would stay down." he told Bakura. "You only have 100 points left and no cards on the field or in your hand."

Bakura was on his hands and knees with his face towards the ground. In a deep raspy voice he said "I never surrender a duel!"

"Suit yourself but if you ask me you shouldn't bother." Garrett said. "Come my next turn I will have drawn a monster strong enough to beat you and move on to the next round."

Bakura stood up but his face still couldn't be seen. "Is that what you think?"

"Yes. Yes that is what I think." Garrett said. Just then Bakura's hair parted a little in the front and he began to chuckle underneath his breath as a strange purple aura began to emit from his body.

"If that is so then let us continue." Bakura said. When he lifted up his head Bakura looked different. His hair parted to the sides in the front, he wore an evil smile and his eyes looked cold and evil. He then shouted in an echo-y voice "Come and face your end!"

Up in the booth Joey and Tristan grabbed onto each other out of pure fright. Tea screamed a little and Duke, Grandpa, and Yugi gasped.

"It can't be!" Tea said. "It just can't be!"

"I thought that Atem beat this guy and sent him to the Shadow Realm?!" Duke asked.

"That's what I thought too!" Tristan said.

"We can't worry about that right now!" Grandpa said.

"Grandpa's right! We have a much bigger problem." Joey said. Joey looked up at the screens and said "Old Yami Bakura's back again!"

"Now then due to my monsters ability once it has destroyed all our cards I am permitted to draw one card from my deck." Bakura said. He took hold of the top card and said "This is where it ends for you."

"Do you honestly think you can win this duel right now?" Garrett asked.

Bakura smirked. "Let's find out. I draw!" Bakura checked his card and laughed evilly and loudly. "The card I know hold is the key to my victory! I activate A Deal with Dark Ruler!" The sky above the stadium turned gray and lightning began to streak across the sky.

"_What's going on here_?" Garrett asked himself. "_First Bakura has a personality change and then these storm clouds come out of now where_." He looked at Bakura and gasped. He could see dark flame all around Bakura's body. "Okay that's a little creepy." Garrett said.

"A Deal with Dark Ruler can only be activated when a monster I control with eight stars or more is sent to the graveyard." Bakura said. Just then a skeleton in the shape of Bakura's Norleras burst through the arena floor appeared behind him.

"What's that?" Garrett asked.

"It is what is left of the body of my Norleras." Bakura told him. What was left of Bakura's monster rose into the air. Lightning struck the body three times creating a bright glow of light. "Now this body will be reshaped and molded into the most powerful monster you shall ever see!" The ball of light exploded and a skeletal looking dragon emerged from it. The entire stadium either gasped from being surprised or shouting in excitement.

"What on earth is that thing!?" Garrett asked.

Bakura laughed again and said "Behold my might Berserk Dragon!" As the monster floated down past the window of their booth Yugi and the others watched in astonishment and bewilderment. Once the beast had landed be side Bakura it left off and ungodly roar that ran chills down Yugi and the others spin.

"I remember the first time I ever seen this card." Joey said. "When me and Yugi dueled against the Big Five in Noah's virtual world."

"I remember that duel." Duke said. "But I don't remember it being as creepy and scary as it is right now."

"That's only because the scariest, creepiest, craziest person we ever knew just summoned it." Tristan said.

"I agree with Tristan." Tea said. "Yami Bakura could make summoning Kuriboh really creepy."

"Now if I remember correctly it's still my turn." Bakura said. Garrett took a step back, trying to prepare himself with what was coming next. "And with that said Berserk Dragon attack this fool directly and end this duel now!" Berserk Dragon inhaled and then from its mouth it exhaled an incredible stream of fire. When it hit Garrett he was lifted off of his feet and thrown into the wall in front of the stands. Bakura through his head back and laughed as Berserk Dragon let off another roar.

"Looks like our evil arch enemy's gotten a little stronger." Joey said.

"_What's happened to you Bakura?_" Yugi thought. Berserk Dragon disappeared and the storm clouds cleared off and when they did the sunlight shone on Bakura. He looked completely normal again.

"Hey guys check it out." Tea said. "Bakura looks like himself again." The others took a peak down at Bakura who looked a little lost and confused.

"Dear me what happened?" Bakura asked himself.

Just then Roland came over the loud speakers. "And the winner of this duel after an incredible ending is Ryo Bakura!" The crowd cheered for Bakura as he looked all around him.

"I won the duel?" he said. "But how?" Bakura looked up to where the booth would be to see the gang watching him. Yugi made a move signaling Bakura to come back up to the booth. Bakura nodded and headed for the elevator.

Up in their booth Devon, Michael, and Bonnie looked pleased with themselves. "So it seems young Ryo still plays home to the Thief Kings power." Devon said.

"With that kind of energy flowing through the beasts veins they would be unstoppable." Bonnie said.

"Shall I go and drain Bakura off his power Devon?" Michael asked.

"Not yet Michael." Devon said. "Bakura has but to begin to tap into his power. We must wait until we are sure of his full potential. Only then do we attempt to feed him to the Sacred Beasts."

The elevator Bakura took reached the top floor and Bakura got out of it and went for the booth. When he opened the door he heard Joey shout "Now guys get him!" Next thing he knew Bakura was being tackled by Duke and Tristan and then hoisted into the air.

"What are you guys doing?! Put me down!" Bakura shouted.

"Hey that doesn't sound like Yami Bakura." Tristan stated. "It sounds like regular Bakura."

"That's because it is Bakura." Tea said. "Put him down guys."

As they lowered Bakura Duke and Tristan apologized. "I suppose it's alright but what on earth is going on here?" Bakura asked.

"We were hoping you could tell us." Yugi said pointing to the monitors. Bakura looked up at it and saw himself looking like his Yami and the ending moments of the duel. Then everything came back to him and he remember all of it.

"I remember now. I was struck by that Wind Bomb trap card." Bakura said. "I was weakened by the blast and hurt just a little. And then when I tried to get up I could feel something rising up inside me."

"And what would that be?" Joey asked.

"I felt a great power awaking inside of me." Bakura explained. "A power all to familiar. A power similar to that of the Thief King when he would take control of my body." The others looked at each other with anxious and scared faces.

"But that can't be him." Bakura said. "When the Pharaoh entered the world of memories Yami Bakura left my body and went after him."

"Then how come you started to emit Shadow Realm power and have a personality change just like Yami Bakura?" Duke asked.

"I don't have any idea." Bakura said while shrugging.

Yugi turned to his grandpa and said "Do you have any ideas Grandpa?"

Grandpa thought for a moment and said "I might have a theory."

"Then let's hear it." Joey said. But before Grandpa could say another word the door to their booth burst open and Kaiba walked in.

"Kaiba." Yugi said surprised.

"Hey haven't you ever heard of knocking!?" Joey yelled. "We were right in the middle of a conversation here!" Kaiba looked at them and then his gaze fell on Bakura.

"So is this him or the other Bakura?" he asked.

"This is just plain old normal Bakura." Yugi said.

"Then where did the other one come from?" Kaiba asked. "Because the last time I checked he left Bakura's body to pursue Atem to that memory world and when he lost that shadow game he didn't come back."

"My grandpa was just about to say something about that when you walked in." Yugi said.

"Then it looks like I got here just in time." Kaiba said. "So tell me Mr. Muto is that other crazed evil Bakura back or does regular Bakura just have a really short temper?"

"I believe it is neither." Grandpa said. "I have a hunch that Bakura may hold some of the Yami Bakura's power deep within him." Everyone looked at one another confused so Grandpa decided to try and explain his theory. "You see I think that when Yami Bakura left Bakura's body he may have left a small piece of his power behind."

"But why would he do that?" Tea asked. "If he was about to fight Atem wouldn't he want his full power?"

"He didn't leave this power behind inside Bakura intentionally." Grandpa explained. "I believe that having him inside his body for so long that Bakura may have absorbed some of Yami Bakura's energy. And when he feels a tremendous amount of pain, anger, stress, and pressure this power could be tapped into to give him even more energy and strength."

The others looked at each other and then Joey said "Is that all true?"

Grandpa then replied "I don't know Joey it's just a hunch." Yugi face palmed and the others let out moans of disbelieve and Kaiba just stood there. "But based on what we just seen it could be proven that my hunch is correct." Grandpa said.

"I can't really believe it." Bakura said. "The spirit's gone but I still possess the Shadow Realms power within me."

"Well look at this way dude, with that crazed evil Bakura gone you're the guy controlling it, not him." Tristan said. "You can use it to help people rather than destroy the world and take it over."

"You may be right Tristan." Bakura said. "But what if I loss control of that power and let it consume me?"

"That's not going to happen." Yugi said. "You're not the kind of guy who will let this power go to your head and abuse it."

"Maybe you're right." Bakura said. "With Yami Bakura gone I have a chance to learn how to control this power. I can use it for good just like Atem did."

"Just remember bro with great power comes huge responsibility." Joey said.

"I think you mean 'great responsibility' Joey." Duke said. Kaiba turned to leave.

"Where you going Kaiba?" Yugi asked.

"All I wanted to know was if that evil Bakura was back." Kaiba said. "And now that I know he isn't I'll be going back to running my tournament." He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"You know I like the fact he doesn't stay around to chit-chat." Joey said looking at the door.

"So Bakura has left over power from the Thief King?" Tristan said. Tea nodded. "And that's because they were in the same body for a long time right?"

"Tristan we already went over this." Duke told him. "Why are you going through it again?"

"Because I was thinking, if what Grandpa said is true do you think Yugi has some of Atem's power inside him waiting to be awoken?" Tristan said.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this but Tristan's got a point." Joey said. They all turned to Yugi. Yugi started to feel awkward as his friends stared at him.

"Say why don't we go down to the snack bar and get some hot dogs and burgers?" Tea suggested. Yugi looked at her and she winked. They both new she said this to pull attention off of Yugi.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Joey said. "How about you Yuge?"

"A couple of hamburgers does sound pretty good right now." Yugi said.

"Okay then. I'll take Joey, Tristan, and Duke with me." Tea said.

"We do we have to come?" Tristan asked.

"Because you're going to help me carry all the food back up here." Tea said. She grabbed Tristan by the jacket collar and started to drag him out of the booth. She turned to Joey and Duke and asked "Are you coming?"

Duke and Joey looked at each other and said "Right behind you!"

As they left they closed the door behind them leaving Bakura, Grandpa, and Yugi in the booth. Grandpa and Bakura continued the discussion of Bakura having some of his Yami's powers as Yugi went to sit down in one of the chairs. As he sat down he let out a sigh and thought about what Tristan just suggested.

"_Could what Tristan said be true? _Yugi thought. "_Could I really have some of Atem's incredible power still inside off me?_"


	8. Mai's Return

**-Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been enjoying my summer vacation and using a lot of my time to catch up on my sleeping. But never the less here is the next chapter. I apologize in advance if it isn't that good. I had writers block and I sort of winged this one. But enough with my rambling and excuses. On with the fic!**

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting in line Tea and the guys walked away from the concession stand with everybody's meal. They picked up a hamburger with a small order of fries for Yugi, a grilled chicken sandwich for Bakura, two cheese burgers for Duke, and a hotdog for each Tea and Mr. Muto.

Joey and Tristan decided to split twenty chili cheese dogs, four orders of curly fries, two extra cheesy nachos, and two special beverages dubbed the Kaiba Corp Gulp Drinks. The cups held two gallons of drink and had pictures of Kaiba and his Blue Eye's on the sides.

Joey took one look at these cups and said "Figures. Not only does Kaiba make this tournament all about him he goes and makes the food all about him too."

When they returned to the booth everybody settled down to watch the third round duel. Joey, Yugi, and Bakura were sitting together enjoying their lunch and the duel. The third round duel pitted two boys about Yugi's age against each other. One named Chris and the other named Alex. The entire duel was back and forth between the two which made it even more interesting. Back up in the booth Joey took a big bit of his chili dog, sending chili flying all over Bakura.

"Joey you're getting chili all over me again!" Bakura told him.

"Sorry man." Joey said as he ate. He swallowed and handed Bakura some napkins. "Here some more napkins man."

"Thanks." Bakura said as he began to wipe himself off. "Did you have to order the extra chili on your hot dogs Joey? Didn't they have enough on there to begin with?"

"Obviously not or I wouldn't have ordered the extra chili." Joey said taking another bit.

"He got you there." Yugi told Bakura. Bakura sighed in agreement with Yugi. "Care for a French fry Bakura?"

"Thank you Yugi." Bakura said taking a fry.

"Hey Tristan can I have a slurp of your drink?" Duke asked.

"Sure dude." Tristan said passing his drink over to Duke.

Duke tried to take a drink but realized something. "It's empty. I thought you said this thing holds like two gallons of soda."

"Well it did." Tristan said taking his empty container back.

"You drank two gallons of soda in just a few minutes?" Duke asked.

"It's the sugar on my fry's man." Tristan told him. "It makes me thirsty."

"Why on earth did you put sugar on your French fries?" Grandpa asked.

"It was an accident. I went to put salt on them but grabbed the sugar instead and just pilled it on by the tablespoon." Tristan said eating another fry.

Tea took one of Tristan's fries and took a bite. She spit it out and said "How could you still be eating these? They're disgusting!"

"They may taste a little funny but they're still edible." Tristan said taking a few more.

"Could you guys keep it down a little?" Joey asked. "Some of us that are competing in this tournament are trying to watch the duel and scope out the competition."

"I don't think it's going to matter much now Joey." Yugi said.

"And why not?" Joey asked.

"Because it seems like that Chris fellow is about to finish things off." Bakura pointed out.

Back out on the duel field it seemed that Yugi and Bakura were correct. Alex held 850 life points and a massive red reptile monster call Gogiga Gagagigo, with an attack strength of 2950. Chris held 600 life points and had only one card in his hand. It was Chris's turn so he drew. When he looked at his card he could hardly believe his luck.

"You've put up a great fight Alex but it's time for me to win this duel." he said.

"And how are you going to do that?" Alex asked. "My beast has 2950 attack points. You have a monster that can beat that?"

"Nope. I have a magic card." Chris replied smiling. "I play Raigeki and with it I shall destroy Gogiga Gagagigo!" A lightning bolt came straight down from the sky and struck the monster instantly destroying him with a loud explosion.

"He was my ace monster!" Alex shouted. "Without him I can't defend myself!"

"That was the whole point!" Chris said. "Now I play Monster Reborn in order to bring my Launcher Spider back from the graveyard!" The large mechanical spider appeared behind its master with missile containers already opened. "Now attack Alex's life points directly!" Two missiles were fired and hit the ground at Alex's feet dropping his points to zero.

Over the PA system Roland announced "And our winner is Chris Wayne! He will advance to our second round!"

"Kid's got game." Tristan said.

"And he ain't too bad either." Joey said.

Tristan made his way towards the door. "If anybody needs me I'll be getting my Gulp Drink refilled."

"How much does that cost?" Tea wondered.

"Nothing actually." Tristan told her. "With the purchase of the Kaiba Corp Gulp Drink you get free refills and you get to keep the cup."

"You would have been able to keep the cup anyway Tristan." Duke told him. "It's not like Kaiba's going to ask for it back."

Joey stood up and said "Hey Tristan do me a favor will ya?" He tossed his own Gulp Drink to Tristan. "Since you're gonna be down there would you get me a refill too man?"

"Why can't you get your own refill?" Tristan asked.

"Well what if my name gets called for the next duel?" Joey asked him. "I might not be able to hear it down there what with all the screaming fans. And if that happened I would end up missing my duel and end up disqualified from the tournament."

"He's got a point." Duke said.

Tristan sighed. "Fine. I'll get you a refill. But only because with your luck you would be chosen to duel and wouldn't hear it!" He opened the door and walked out.

Joey returned to his set and looked out the window. "I sure hope my turn to duel is next. I've been itching to get out there and show these guys what true duelin's all about."

"And now for duel number four of our first round!" Roland shouted.

"Here's your chance Joey." Yugi told him. "They're picking the next two duelists."

"Now our first contestant is…the lovely Mai Valentine!" Roland announced.

"Mai's dueling next?" Tea asked in excitement.

"I haven't seen Mai in action since she dueled Yugi back at Duelist Kingdom." Bakura said. "And because of the Thief King I missed her dueling in the Battle City Tournament."

"She's gotten a lot stronger since then." Yugi told Bakura.

"I don't feel the least bit sorry for her opponent." Duke said.

"You can say that again." Joey agreed. "I wonder which one of these chumps Mai gets the honor of thrasin'."

Back outside Roland continued on. "And now to select Mai's opponent!" On the giant jumbo trons Mai's picture was in the first space and in the space next to her the images of the remaining contestants flashed by until it stopped on…

"Mai's opponent is none other than the third top ranking duelist in the world, Mr. Jumpin' Joey Wheeler!" Roland shouted. The gang all looked at Joey.

He looked back with a confused look. "What?"

"You get to be the chump Mai gets the honor of thrashing." Duke said trying to hold back his laughter.

"That's not funny." Joey told him getting up.

"Be careful Joey!" Tea cried after him.

"Yeah! We wouldn't want you to get hurt while Mai's thrashing you!" Bakura joked.

"Now, now kids Mai isn't going to thrash Joey in this duel." Grandpa said.

"You see!" Joey shouted back. "Thank you Mr. Muto. At least someone's being supportive."

"She's going to just crush him." Grandpa said smiling. Everybody started to laugh again.

"Some friends you guys are!" Joey shouted as he walked out. Joey headed to the elevator muttering to himself things he could do to the others to get even. He then took notice that one of the elevator doors were closing after someone had just got in it. "Hey! Hold that elevator!"

Inside the elevator Mai stood there waiting for it to take her to the ground floor when she heard someone shout "Hey! Hold that elevator!" The elevator doors were just about closed when Joey stuck his hands in the door to keep them from closing.

But instead the doors closed on his hands causing him to yell out in pain. Recognizing the voice Mai simply said "Joey!" and helped pry the door back open. Once his hands were free Joey walked into the elevator.

"Joey you bonehead! Didn't anybody ever teach you that you stop elevator doors with your foot not your hand?" Mai asked him.

"It's a little late for that now." Joey said rubbing his hands.

"You okay?" Mai asked.

"I'll be fine." Joey said. "I've had a lot worse stuff happen to me."

Joey pulled his deck out of his pocket and gave it a look through before putting it into his duel disk. "I'm looking forward to our duel Mai."

"Is that so." she said.

"Yeah. I mean the two of us haven't really dueled since, uh." Joey stopped. He was remembering that the last time they dueled wasn't exactly a fond memory, for either of them.

"Since the whole Orichalcos incident." Mia said finishing his sentence.

"Right." Joey agreed with her.

"It's okay Joey. I've moved on since the Orichalcos." Mia told him.

"Then how come we haven't heard from you all this time?" Joey asked her.

"After all I did to you I just couldn't face you or the others." Mai said. "I felt really guilty about what I did."

"You didn't have to feel guilty Mai." Joey told her. "Yugi and I don't blame you for what happened. It was the Orichalcos Stones fault. It took control of you to do it's biddin'."

"But I let it take control of me Joey. I let that stone use me to try and destroy the only guys I could really call my friends." Mai told him.

"That's why we haven't heard from you? Because you felt guilty?" Joey asked.

Mai nodded back in agreement. "Thankfully Serenity was able to help me get over my guilt. Without her help and support I don't think I would have had the courage to even set foot back in this town."

"Mia you should know by now that you're always welcome, wait minute. Serenity?" Joey said. "You've been talkin' to my sister?"

"She gave me her email address at the end of Battle City so we could keep in touch." Mai explained.

"Let me get this straight. Ever since we defeated the Orichalcos you've been emailing my sister and not me!?"

"What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal!? I've been trying to track you down ever since we beat Dartz and that dragon of his! For months I've been trying to hear from you or find out where you were and if you were okay. And all this time you've been talking with Serenity! Why didn't she tell me she heard from you!?"

"Well did you ever ask Serenity if she ever heard from me?"

"No! But that's beside the point! I can't believe she wouldn't tell me she got in touch with you."

"Well don't blame her. I ask Serenity not to say anything to you." Mai told Joey. "I didn't want us to meet until I could face you and the others again."

Joey was making strange noises trying to take all this in. He shouted in frustration a little but after that Joey took a deep breath to calm himself down. When he exhaled Joey smiled. "You know somethin'? I don't really care. I am just glad you're back Mai."

"Some am I Joey."

"I got an idea. What do you say we use this duel to rekindle our friendship?" Joey asked.

Mia just smiled right back at him. "Sounds good but you better not hold back Joey. I've been looking forward to having a real rematch with you for a long time. And I intend to win."

"Dream on!" Joey told her. "I plan on going all the way and win this tournament."

"You'll have to get past me first." Mai told him.

"Then get ready cause I'm gonna hit you with everything I got." Joey said.

The elevator reached the ground floor and the two of them walked out. Tristan turned the corner caring his drink and Joey's.

"Hey Joey I got your drink!" he yelled. Tristan then saw Mai and greeted her. "Hi Mai."

"Hello Tristan." Mai said. "Nice to see you."

"Ditto." Tristan told her. "I'm glad you're here Mai. Joey's done nothing but whine and moan about not seeing or hearing from you since the Grand Championship."

"So I've heard." Mai said.

"I wasn't that bad was I?" Joey asked Tristan.

"Yes." Tristan said.

"Some friend you are." Joey said crossing his arms.

"I'm also the friend who walked all the way down here to get you your drink." Tristan said trying to hand Joey his cup.

"Could you do me a favor Tristan and take it back up to the booth and put it in the fridge to keep it cold?" Joey asked.

"Why can't you do it?" Tristan asked.

"I would except I have a duel to go fight." Joey said tilting his head towards Mai. The two of them told Tristan they would see him later and walked out to the arena.

"Tell the gang I said hey Tristan!" Mai told him as she walked away.

"Sure thing Mai!" Tristan shouted back. He got into the elevator and let out a sigh. "That figures. I came all the way down here to get Joey more soda and he ended up having to fight a duel anyway." He pushed the button for the top floor and sighed again. "I knew I should've gone back up after that baby almost barfed on me."

Back out on in the arena Joey and Mai had taken their places and were shuffling their decks. Roland got back on the PA system and yelled "Miss Valentine, are you ready to duel!?"

Mai inserted her deck into her duel disk, activated it and shouted "Ready!"

"Mr. Wheeler, are you ready to duel?!"

Joey threw his deck into his disk, set it to duel mode and shouted "LET'S ROCK AND ROLL!"

"Then let the match begin!" Roland shouted.

"With me taking the first turn!" Mai shouted as she drew. "I summon Harpie Lady in attack mode! Then I place one card face down."

"Now it's my turn! Draw!" Joey looked at his cards. "I place one card face down and end my turn." (Joey's hand-5, life points-4000/ Mai's hand-4, life points-4000)

"After all that boosting about not holding back and that's the only move you make?" Mai asked. "If that's the case then I summon Harpie's Brother in attack mode!" A male version of Harpie Lady appeared on the field with dark wings with red highlights and red claws.

"I didn't know Harpie Lady had a brother." Joey said.

"Well you do now and I'm going to use him to attack your life points directly!" Mai said.

"I reveal my Scapegoat magic card! With it I can now summon four Sheep Tokens to my side of the field in defense mode!" Joey told her.

Harpie's Brother slashed one of Joey's tokens when Mai commanded her Harpie Lady to do the same. With the blue and red sheep gone Joey had only the orange and the yellow Scapegoats left. "Okay Joey it's your move." Mai told him.

"I know." Joey said as he drew (Joey's hand-6, life points-4000/ Mai's hand-4, life points-4000). "_I also know that you've just walked into my trap Mai._" he thought.

Back up in the booth the whole gang was pressed up against the glass watching this duel. Well everyone except Tristan, who had just come running through the door. He put Joey's soda in the fridge and ran up next to Duke to watch the duel. "Who's winning? Is it over yet?"

"They just got started." Duke told him.

"Mai summoned up two Harpie's to attack Joey but he countered with Scapegoat." Tea explained.

"And now it's Joey's turn again." Bakura said.

"Alright." Tristan said taking a drink. "I haven't missed the good stuff."

Back on the field Joey took a card from his hand and said "I now activate the Polymerization magic card! And with it I can now fuse my Baby Dragon with my Alligator Sword in order to fusion summon my Alligator Sword Dragon in attack mode!"

"Awesome move Joey!" Duke shouted.

"How can that be an awesome move?" Tristan asked. "His dragon's weaker than Harpie's Bro."

"Tristan's right. Granted Joey can destroy Harpie Lady and deal some damage but then Mai can attack with Haprie's Brother come her next turn and destroy Joey's dragon." Tea said.

"It's an awesome move because Alligator Sword Dragon can attack Mai directly." Yugi explained.

"Go Alligator Sword Dragon take flight!" Joey commanded. His dragon flew into the air, high above the stadium.

"What are you up to Joey?" Mai asked.

"My dragon can attack your life points directly Mai when you have two monsters on the field with the same attribute." Joey explained. "And since both your monsters are wind monsters, Alligator Sword Dragon can attack!" The dragon began its descent as the riding alligator raised its sword.

"Not so fast Joey. I play my Mirror Wall trap card!" Mai declared. "With it I can cut your monsters points in half."

"That may be but my dragon can still attack your life points." Joey said. When the dragon got close the Mirror Wall rose up and formed a sort of dome to protect Mai. Alligator Sword smashed the dome with its sword causing fragments to fall onto Mai and drop her life points. "I'll end my turn with a face down card."

"Then it's my move." Mai said. (Joey's hand-2, life points-4000/ Mai's hand-5, life points-3150) "Now during my Standby Phase Mirror Wall gives me the option of paying 2000 life points to keep it in play or it goes to the graveyard."

"So what do you plan on doing Mai?" Joey asked.

"I'm not going to pay the life points and send my trap to the grave." she told him.

"_Well at least Mirror Wall's gone._" Joey thought. "_But I'm not of the woods yet. Not with two Harpie's on the field._"

"I place one card face down and summon Harpie Lady One in attack mode." Mai said.

"Harpie Lady One?" Joey said. "She's got the same attack points as a regular Harpie Lady. What's the difference between her and a regular Harpie?"

"Well it could be the fact that Harpie Lady One has a special effect." Mai told him. "She raises the attack power of all wind monsters on my side of the field by 300 points including herself." The attack points of both Harpie Ladies increased to 1600 as Harpie's Brothers points rose to 2100.

"That's not good." Joey stated.

"Now Harpie's Brother attack Alligator Sword Dragon!" Mai commanded.

"I activate my Kunai with Chain!" Joey declared. "With the power of this trap I can switch your Harpie's Bro into defense mode and increase the attack strength of Alligator Sword Dragon by 500 points."

"Then I'll use Harpie Lady One to attack your dragon and Harpie Lady to attack your Scapegoat!" Mai said. Once Joey's dragon was slashed and destroyed his life points dropped to 3750. After the orange Scapegoat was destroyed Mai ended her turn.

"My move." Joey said (Joey's hand-3, life points-3750/Mai's hand-3, life points-3150). "_With just these cards there's really only one move I can make. It'll take a little bit of luck to pull this off though._" Joey thought. He started chuckling and said "If that's the case it's a good thing I'm Joey freakin' Wheeler!"

"We all know who you are din-a-ling." Mai told him. "What we want to know is what your next move is."

"Then I'll show you by summoning Hayabusa Knight!" Joey shouted. A bird type warrior appeared next to Joey carrying a sword looking ready for combat.

"How's that going to help him beat those Harpie's?" Tristan asked.

"Maybe he has an equip spell to strengthen its attack power." Tea suggested.

Duke thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers. "Maybe he has the Star Blaster magic card in his hand."

"Star Blaster? What does that do?" Bakura asked.

"Star Blaster has you sacrifice a monster on your side of the field in exchange for rolling a die." Grandpa told Bakura. "Then whatever number you roll you add to the star level of the monster you sacrificed and you can then summon a monster from your hand with that total level."

"It's a nice quick, easy way of getting your most powerful monsters on the field without making tons of tributes." Yugi said.

"But only if you can get the right number roll though." Duke added.

"I give up my Hayabusa Knight to activate my Star Blaster card!" Joey said. A red die rolled out of the card and tumbled to the center of the arena. It spun around for a moment before it landed on four.

"Alright! Now I can add four more stars to my Knights three and summon a seven star card! Get ready Mai, for my Red Eye's Black Dragon!" Joey's ace monster appeared behind him out of a collection a red sparkles. The dragon landed beside its master and let out a battle cry.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Tristan said.

"Nice move Joey." Yugi said. "Now take down those Harpie's!"

"Red Eye's Black Dragon attack Harpie Lady One with Inferno Fire Blast!" Joey commanded.

"Activate the Relieve Monster trap card." Mai declared. "This trap card allows me to recall one of my monsters on the field back to my hand and then summon a level four monster in attack mode to take its place. So I return Harpie Lady One and summon Harpie Lady Three." The red haired Harpie vanished and then one with blue hair appeared in her place.

"One, Three, Seventy it don't matter!" Joey said. "My Red Eye's is still takin' that thing down." Red Eye's let loose a fire ball that engulfed Mai's monster and disintegrated it, causing Mai too loss 1100 life points. "And with that I end my turn."

Mai smirked and when she did something happened to Joey's dragon. Red Eye's let out a cry of pain as strange blue cords shot out of the ground wrapping around its wings, binding them to the dragons' body. More cords came out of the ground and attached themselves to Red Eye's arms, feet, and tail. Joey looked up at his dragon in disbelief of what was happening and he wasn't the only one. Up in the booth the gang watched as the blue cords rendered Joey's monster immobile.

"What's going on with those cords?" Tea asked.

"And why are they wrapping around old Red Eye's?" Tristan asked.

"It seems as if those cords are binding together to hold Joey's dragon down." Grandpa observed.

"What'd you do to my dragon Mai!?" Joey asked.

"I didn't really do anything." Mai said. "When your monster destroyed Harpie Lady Three her special ability kicked in. An effect that prevents your dragon from attacking for two turns."

"Two turns?" Joey said.

Yugi grunted a little in frustration. "With Red Eye's Black Dragon immobilized Mai can pick him off without a fight."

"You were right Yugi." Bakura told him. "Mai has definitely grown stronger since Battle City."

"And it seems she's added a whole bunch of new cards to her deck." Tea added.

"Plus she knows Joey's deck almost as good as Joey." Yugi added. "Combing that knowledge with a collection of new cards we haven't seen yet gives Mai the advantage."

"She knew Joey would summon a strong monster to attack her Harpie Lady One and therefore set a trap to render his monster almost useless." Grandpa reviewed. "An excellent strategy."

"Looks like Mai's got this one in the bag." Duke said.

"Again with the negativity Duke?" Tristan asked sounding a little annoyed. "Every time it looks like Yugi or Joey are gonna loses a duel you start going on with how they don't have a chance and are goners. You're a glass half empty kind of guy you know that?"

"I'm not a 'glass half empty' guy! I'm just being realistic!" Duke shouted. "Mai has Joey right where she wants him, completely defenseless and her turn coming up!"

"It's my turn Joey." Mai said (Joey's hand-1, life points-3750/Mai's hand-4, life points-2050). "And to start it off I'm going to play Pot of Greed. With this cards effect I can draw two extra cards."

"_This isn't good!_" Joey told himself. "_My Red Eye's is completely venerable out there and once he's gone all I'm going to have left is my last Scapegoat._"

"I know equip my Harpie's Brother with the Attribute Summons magic card." Mai told Joey. The spell materialized behind the monster and then Harpie's Brother began to glow a light shade of green.

"So what does Attribute Summons do Mai?" Joey asked.

"It allows me to sacrifice the equip monster to summon another monster from my hand. The only catch is that the new monster I special summon must have the same attribute that my Harpie has." Mai explained. "So now I shall use Attribute Summons effect and tribute my Harpie's Brother in exchange for my Harpie's Pet Dragon!" After Harpie's Brother disappeared there was a loud explosion in front of Mai with a giant fire ball erupting out of now where. Then the flames disappeared and Mai's dragon stood in their place.

"Figures." Joey said. "I summon my dragon and then she goes and plays hers."

"I resummon Harpie Lady One in attack mode." Mai declared. "And with her ability I can raise the attack power of all three of my monsters by 300 points. Also I play my Pet Dragon's effect, allowing it to gain 300 extra points for each Harpie Lady on my field."

"But with the two Harpie's as well as the power boost from Harpie One Mai's dragon has an attack strength of 2900." Tea figured out.

"At least Joey still has that last Scapegoat to help protect him." Bakura pointed out.

"I play another magic card from my hand called Shield Crush. This card can destroy a monster on your field that's in defense mode." Mai explained. "With that said say goodbye to your last Scapegoat." A beam of light flew out of Mai's spell and hit the sheep token, shattering it into thousands of pieces.

"So much for his last Scapegoat protecting him." Duke said.

"Now go Harpie's Pet Dragon attack Red Eye's Black Dragon!" Mai shouted. The Pet Dragon raised its head into the air, forming a purple flame in its mouth. When the dragon brought its head back down the flame was released and Joey's Red Eye's was completely engulfed. Red Eye's cried out in pain and then exploded dropping Joey's life points by 500. "Now go Harpie Ladies attack his life points directly with dual claw slash!"

Both Haprie's did as they were commanded. Harpie Lady One charged Joey like a bull as Harpie Lady took to the sky. Joey shielded himself behind his duel disk and braced himself. The charging Harpie slashed him with all her might sending him skidding backwards. But when he stopped skidding the second Harpie swooped down out of the sky and kicked Joey in the chest and knocked him over.

"He only has fifty life points left." Yugi said.

Tristan pounded the glass with his fist. "Come on Joey! You can do this!"

Bakura turned to Tea and said "Mai certainly has Joey on the ropes doesn't she?"

"She sure does." Tea agreed. "If Joey doesn't pull some sort of game changer card I think Mai's going to win the duel."

Back out on the field Joey stood back up after being attacked and dusted himself off. "I end my turn." Mai said. "It's your move Joey."

"_And unless I come up with some sort of plan I have a feeling it's going to be my last move._" Joey thought. _"The only card I've got in my hand at the moment is the Sword of the Soul Eater magic card and that alone isn't going to beat Mai. But if I can draw the right cards come this turn I might be able to use its effect to take down Harpie's Pet Dragon._"

"You can do it Joey." Yugi muttered. "Just believe in the heart of the cards."

"It's my turn. Please let this be the card I need." Joey said drawing. He peeked at his card and with a satisfied grin he played it. "I activate the Roll of Fate magic card. Now by rolling a die I can draw extra cards from my deck depending on what number comes up."

"You'll need more than just luck to beat me Joey." Mai told him.

"We'll see about that." Joey told her. A small die appeared out of thin air floating in front of Joey. He took hold of it and threw it. The die flew through the air and landed in between Joey and Mai. The die spun around on its corner before it landed on a six.

"Yes! And it's lucky number six!" Joey shouted as he drew. Joey peered at his hand and looked back up at Mai. "With the cards I got Mai this duel ends now!"

"You have to beat my Harpie's Pet Dragon first." Mai told him as her dragon roared.

"If that's all I have to do then here goes. I play my Monster Reborn card in order to bring my dragon back from the graveyard." Joey said. In front of Joey the wind picked up and there were several strands of light shooting up out of the ground.

"This is awesome!" Tristan shouted.

"With his Red Eye's Black Dragon back on the field Joey can win this." Tea exclaimed.

"Now from my graveyard I special summon the monster that's gonna crush your pet dragon Mai." Joey said. "My Baby Dragon!" The little yellow dragon materialized and sat at Joey's feet looking ready to fight.

"Are you serious?!" Duke shouted.

"Why would he bring back Baby Dragon?" Bakura asked. "It doesn't have nearly enough attack points."

"Perhaps Joey has his Time Wizard card in his hand." Grandpa suggested.

"Of course! With Time Wizards power Joey can destroy Mai's monsters and evolve his monster into Thousand Dragon!" Tea thought.

"And then attack Mai directly and win this duel!" Tristan finished.

Back on the duel field Mai was staring at Baby Dragon trying to figure out how Joey could use it to beat her. But then she got an idea. "You're planning on use your old Time Wizard/Baby Dragon combo aren't you Joey?"

"I would have if I drew my Time Wizard." Joey said.

"But without him how are you going to use your dragon to beat mine?" Mai asked.

"I'll show you Mai by playing the Unstable Evolution magic card. When my life points are lower than yours the attack points of the monster equip to this card become 2400. So I'll equip it to my Baby Dragon and double his attack points." Joey explained. "Then I'll use my Landstar Forces card. Thanks to this card I can now summon every Landstar in my hand. So stand back as I summon Swordsmen of Landstar, Knight of Landstar, and Grappler of Landstar."

"I don't understand." Tea said. "What's Joey going to do with all those low level monsters?"

Yugi thought for a minute. "He must be planning on using that new card he just got."

"New card?" Tristan said.

"What new card are you talking about Yugi?" Grandpa asked.

"Just watch and see guys." Yugi told them.

"Now I play my final card. I equip Baby Dragon with the Sword of the Soul Eater!" Joey declared. Everyone watched as a strange black and silver sword appeared in Baby Dragons hand.

"He has Sword of the Soul Eater?!" Grandpa asked sounding surprised. Yugi nodded back to his grandfather in agreement.

"What's the big deal with that sword?" Tristan asked.

"Sword of the Soul Eater can only be equip to a level three normal monster." Yugi explained. "Once that requirement is filled its true power can be unleashed."

"Let me see if I've got this right. You're giving a dragon a sword?" Mai asked.

"That's right." Joey told her. "Only now my dragon's going to use his sword to attack Harpie's Pet Dragon!"

"There's no way your baby can win." Mai told Joey. "He's not strong enough."

"Is that so?" Joey asked grinning. "Then I suppose I'll have to use my Sword of the Soul Eaters power." Then each of Joey's Landstars began to glow blue and a blue energy stream was flowing from each one of them into the sword.

"What in the world?" Bakura said.

"What's happening to Joey's Landstars?" Duke asked.

"It looks like they're being absorbed into the sword." Tea stated.

"What's going on Joey?" Mai asked. "Why are your monsters being absorbed into that sword?"

"My Sword of the Soul Eater allows me to sacrifice every normal monster on my field to increase my Baby Dragons attack strength by 1000 points per monster." Joey explained. "And I'm sending all three of my Landstars to the graveyard!"

"Excellent move Joey!" Bakura yelled.

"With the power of his spell card Joey can increase the attack power of his Baby Dragon by 3000 extra points." Grandpa said.

"And since he already enhanced its attack power with Unstable Evolution this attack boost will give Baby Dragon 5400 attack points." Yugi said. "That gives him more than enough points to destroy Mai's pet dragon and wipeout her life points."

By now the three Landstars had completely disappeared into the sword, increasing Baby Dragons power. The sword and the dragon glowed the same bright blue that the Landstars did.

"Now that the charge up's complete it's time! Go Baby Dragon! Attack Harpie's Pet Dragon!" Joey shouted. Baby Dragon took flight and flew straight towards the pet dragon. Mai's monster let out a tremendous roar.

Baby Dragon held out the Sword of the Soul Eater and flew right into the chest of Harpie's Pet Dragon. Both monsters roared as the energy from the sword surged through Mai's monster. Then Harpie's Pet Dragon exploded, emitting a blue flame that was so intense that everybody in the duel stadium had to shield their eyes and faces with their arms. Up in the booth the gang was shielding their eyes as well.

"What just happened?" Tristan asked.

"Joey blew up Mai's dragon." Bakura answered.

When the flames settled down everyone could now see that Mai's life point counter had dropped to zero. "And it's over!" Roland shouted. "After an explosive ending Joey Wheeler is our winner!"

The crowd started to cheer and clap. Up in the stands some guy said "That Joey Wheeler's great!"

His buddy sitting next to him agreed. "I know right! I mean he only had fifty points left and he still managed to win!"

The two friends looked at each other and then started to chant "Wheeler! Wheeler! Wheeler!" Five seconds later the entire stadium was chanting Joey's name in celebration of his win.

Joey looked all around the stands and couldn't believe it. "They're all chanting my name." he said. A grin came to Joey's face. "Finally! I get some respect around here!"

He began waving to the crowd, causing the crowd to cheer louder. Back up in the booth Tea, Bakura, Yugi, and Grandpa were clapping for Joey as Tristan and Duke did the 'Victory Dance.'

Back on the field Joey had finally made his way off it and was heading back to the elevators to rejoin the others. Once he reached the elevators Joey was met by Mai.

"Hi Mai." Joey said. Mai held out her hand and congratulated Joey on his win. "Thanks. I can't believe I actually managed to pull that off."

"I can." Mai told him. "There's a reason people call you, Yugi, and Kaiba the Legendary Duelists. And that's because no matter what the odds of you winning the duel are the three of you just believe in yourselves, continue to fight, and find a way to win."

"Thanks Mia." Joey said. He pushed the button for the elevator and the doors opened. "You might as well come up with me. Now that the gang knows you're here they ain't gonna leave you alone until you come and say hi."

"I already planned on it Joey." Mai told him.

They both walked into the elevator. The doors closed and as they went up Joey had to ask Mai something.

"Hey Mai can I ask you a question?"

"Sure Joey." she replied. "What is it?"

Joey looked into her eyes as Mai stared into his. And then Joey asked, as serious as he could be "Do people really call me, Yuge, and Rich Boy 'The Legendary Duelists'?"

-**There you go! Mai's back! Again I'm sorry if this wasn't that great. I hope the duel kind of makes up for it.**


	9. The Enemy Revealed

Joey opened the door to the booth him and peeked his head in.

"Helloooo." Joey said as he peeked his head in.

"Hey Joey." Yugi greeted.

"Congrates on winning that duel against Mai man." Tristan said.

"That move you pulled with the Sword of the Soul Eater was brilliant." Bakura told him.

"Thanks guys." Joey said. "Listen guys, there's someone here who wants to say hi." Joey opened the door all the way and took a step back so everyone could see Mai.

Mai stepped in and said "Hi everyone."

"Hey Mai!" Yugi said.

"Long time no see!" Duke said.

"Great to see you Mai." Tea said hugging her. Mia hugged back saying it was great to see her too.

"Welcome back Mai." Grandpa said.

"It's great to be back Mr. Muto." Mai said.

"I am glad you're back Mai." Tea said. "Now I've got a female friend I can hang out with and not just the guys."

Bakura, Duke, Joey, and Bakura all gathered around Tea. "And just what is that supposed to mean?" Joey asked.

Tea scratched her head and laughed nervously. "It's just you guys are guys and I'm a girl."

"I could have told you that." Duke said as he winked.

"There's just a lot of stuff I'm into that you guys wouldn't be because you're not girls."

"Like what?" Tristan inquired.

"Name one thing." Bakura told her.

"Well I presume you guys don't go with her to beauty salons to get manicures and your hair done right?" Mai asked. "And I have a sneaking suspicion you've never really gone shopping with her either."

"Bakura said name one not half a dozen." Joey stated.

"You guys will always be my best friends." Tea reassured them. "But every once in a while I need to take a step back and do girl stuff."

The guys looked at each other, soaking in what she just said.

Bakura then said "You know what Tea, you are absolutely right."

"I am?" she asked.

"Totally!" Tristan said.

"One hundred percent correct!" Duke said.

"You defiantly need some female friends." Joey said. Tea agreed with him and then the gang started to play catch up with Mai. Yugi and Joey eventually broke away from the group and sat down in front of the viewing window.

"Ain't this great Yuge?" Joey asked. "With Mai here the gangs finally whole again."

Yugi looked down at his chest where his Millennium Puzzle would hang. Yugi placed his hand where the puzzle would have set and mumbled "Not completely whole Joey."

Joey looked over and saw what Yugi was doing and knew immediately what he was talking about. "Sorry man. Since you and Atem shared a body for so long and I could never see him unless he took control of your body, I sometimes forget that he's gone."

"Me too." Yugi said. "I know it's been almost two months but sometimes I swear I can still feel the Millennium Puzzle hanging around my neck. I keep waking up in the morning half expecting to see Atem standing there ready for whatever the day would throw at us."

"He was a great guy." Joey said. "He made a huge impact on the lives of everybody he met."

"Is this a private conversation or can anybody join in?" Mai asked as she sat down next Joey. "So what are you boys talking about?"

"Atem." Joey told her.

"I see." she said looking over to Yugi. "I just wish I could have been there for your duel with him Yugi. From what I've heard it was one of the greatest duels ever played."

"It wasn't just one of the greatest duels. It was _the_ greatest duel ever played!" Joey said. "The two of them kept topping each other's move and not giving a single inch to the other! They were evenly matched until Yugi played his Gold Sarcophagus card to stop Atem from bring back Slifer the Sky Dragon."

"That was a great move Yugi." Mai complemented him. "You anticipated Atem's move and knew exactly how to counter it."

"Thanks Mai." Yugi said.

Yugi turned away from Mai and Joey and thought "_But what if Atem hadn't used a Monster Reborn card? What if he used some other card to bring back the gods or summoned a monster to defend himself? If that would have been the case the duel would have continued on beyond that point. Would I still have won the duel or would Atem have won and still be here with all of us, waiting for his chance to leave this world?_"

Outside Roland shouted over the PA system "And now for our next two duelists!"

This announcement snapped Yugi from his train of thought and back to reality. "_I guess I'll never know what could have been._" was his last thought on the subject.

"Our first competitor is…the great dino duelist Rex Raptor!"

"Just because he's the only well-known dinosaur deck user in the world doesn't make him that great." Tristan said.

"You can say that again." Joey told him as they high fived.

"Now Rex's opponent will be…the stylish English debonair, Devon Miles!"

Yugi looked at the picture of the British man wearing a suit and recognized him at once. "I know that guy. I meet him in the hall just after my duel with Weevil."

"Wonder what type of deck he uses?" Bakura wondered.

"I suppose we will just have to wait and see." Grandpa told him. When Devon walked out everyone couldn't help but notice he was wearing what looked like an expensive grey suit.

"Great, another foreign guy who wears fancy expensive suits to duel." Joey sighed.

"At least he's not wearing a very bright pink suit like Zigfried von Schroeder." Duke pointed out.

"Hey it takes a real man to wear pink." Tea said.

"Or just a really girly one." Joey muttered.

Yugi watched Devon step out on to the field and shuffle his deck when he started to sense a strange dark power again. "_He may be wearing a normal suit but I've got a feeling there's more to this Devon Miles than meets the eye. His deck seems to be putting off some sort of dark power. If Rex isn't careful he could end up seriously hurt._"

In another booth Michael Knight and Bonnie Barstow sat watching their leader about to duel. "This is pointless." Bonnie said. "This Rex Raptor hasn't won a real duel since he was defeated by Joey Wheeler during the Duelist Kingdom tournament years ago."

"If that's the case then Devon should have no trouble defeating him." Michael said. "Rex Raptor will be the first duelist to fall to the Sacred Beasts."

"A lot of good it will do. His power is so weak and low it will hardly help the Beasts power increase." Bonnie stated.

Michael chuckled a little. "You know the old saying, every little bit helps."

Back out on the field the duel had begun. "I believe I shall take the first turn." Devon said as he drew. "I place one card face down and summon Feral Imp in defense mode. That will end my turn."

"My draw." Rex said. "I use the special effect of Gilasaurus from my hand. Now I can treat its normal summoning as a special summon. And lucky me, I have two Gilasaurus's." Two small brown dinosaurs appeared on Rex's field and let off a small roar. "Of course when I summon my Gilasaurus with this effect you would normally be allowed to special summon a monster from your graveyard for each saurus. But since your grave's empty you can't play another monster."

"Isn't this the move Rex used on you when he dueled you with the Orichalcos?" Tristan asked Joey.

"Yup. It's the same move." Joey said.

"And it's quite a good move." Bakura said. "Rex special summoned two monsters that he can now easily tribute for a much stronger monster."

"Or keep around and attack this Devon guy twice." Mai added.

"But with the Feral Imps defense strength matching his dinosaurs attack power Rex must increase their strength in order to attack." Grandpa said. "Or he must destroy Feral Imp with the power of a magic card."

"Next I equip my first Gilasaurus with the Raise Body Heat magic card." Rex declared. "This will increase my dinosaurs attack points by 300 points." The Gilasaurus equipped with the spell had a flame appear on the tip of its snot and then the flame extended itself up the dinos head, down its back, and down its tail. "Now my Jurassic forces will demolish your Imp and your life points!"

The Gilasaurus equip with the flames shot a breath of fire from its mouth to disintegrate Feral Imp. After the flame destroyed the Imp the second Gilasaurus leapt into the air, landed in front of Devon and bit his arm.

"Next I tribute my two weaker dinos to summon something a little stronger." Rex said. "Say hello to my Serpent Night Dragon!" The two Gilasaurus's vanished and a sleek, black dragon swopped down around Rex and then settled down in front of him.

"Serpent Night Dragon." Duke said.

"Haven't seen that card in a long time." Tristan said.

"I thought you said Rex lost his Serpent Night Dragon to Espa Roba back in Battle City?" Tea asked Joey.

"Guess he found himself another one." Joey guessed.

"It's your move fancy pants." Rex told Devon.

"So it is." Devon said. He took hold of the top card of his deck and felt a slight shock of energy. At the same time Yugi felt it from all the way up in the booth.

"_That's it! The dark power I've been sensing is a card from his deck!_" Yugi thought. "_But aside from the Egyptian Gods what kind of monster can have that kind of power?_"

Aside from Yugi Bakura too thought he felt something.

Back in their own booth Michael and Bonnie had felt the same shock that Devon had. Along with the shock a card in both of their decks began to glow. Michael pulled out his card as it glowed red. "It has arrived." he said.

Bonnie took out her card as it glowed yellow. "The first Sacred Beast is about to be summoned."

Back on the field Devon drew the top card of his deck and smiled with an evil grin. He looked back up at Rex and said "Well Mr. Raptor I must admit I was hoping for more of a challenge from you."

"Don't worry buddy!" Rex shouted. "I'm just getting warmed up! And there's plenty of duel to go!"

"But that's just the point Mr. Raptor, there isn't any more duel to go." Devon told him.

"What do you mean?" Rex asked.

"This is where it all ends! The duel and your life! And it all begins with the Fiend Sanctuary spell card! With it I can special summon one Metal Fiend token to my field." A white circle appeared on the ground in front of Devon and raising out of the hole in the center of the circle was a small metal being. "Next I use the Multiply spell to create two more versions of my tokens."

Then two more Metal Fiend tokens seemed to tear themselves away from the original token. Then there were three of them on Devon's field.

"That's the move Atem used in his duel with Marik to summon Obelisk the Tormentor." Tea remembered.

"Looks like this guy's going to use the same move to summon something to beat Rex's Serpent Night Dragon." Duke said.

"Not just his dragon." Bakura said.

"I have a feeling whatever Devon Miles is about to summon will win him the duel this turn." Yugi said.

Joey looked from Bakura to Yugi and to Bakura again saying "What the heck are you two talking about?"

"To be honest I don't even know." Bakura told Joey.

"I have a feeling we're about to find out what you're talking about guys." Mia said.

"Ready yourself Mr. Raptor! For the monster I'm about to summon contains powers that are only rivaled by that of the Egyptian God Cards!" Devon shouted.

"_A card with powers equal to that of Slifer, Ra, and Obelisk?!_" Yugi thought.

The sky outside went dark and just above the duel arena; a spinning vortex seemed to have formed in the clouds. "Now by sacrificing three fiends I can summon forth my greatest creation! Quiver in fear as I play the Sacred Beast Raviel, Lord of the Phantasms!"

The three tokens become silver streams of light that ascended into the sky and was absorbed into the vortex. Then a huge burst of blue light erupted from the vortex to the ground. Two seconds later blasting up from the ground was an enormous, winged, evil looking, blue and purple creator. As the gang watched the creator raise they were shocked.

Tristan said "It looks like a weird blue and purple…"

"Demonic form of…" Joey started.

"Obelisk the Tormentor!" Yugi finished. Raviel did show a slight resemblance to Obelisk only this monsters wings were transparent with blue veins and it had blue and purple skin.

"But it can't be Obelisk." Mai said. "I thought you said the God Cards were gone Yugi?"

"They are gone. Since the god cards were no longer needed in this world Atem took them with him when he entered the Afterlife." Yugi explained.

"If that thing isn't Obelisk then what is it!?" Tristan asked.

"Trouble." Yugi answered.

Back on the duel field Rex stood bewildered at the sight of this new monster. "I can't believe what I'm seeing." he said. "This card looks like Obelisk the Tormentor. It even has 4000 attack points."

"Yes my Raviel does bear a slight resemblance to Obelisk in appearance and attack strength." Devon noted. "But my Sacred Beast holds powers much mightier than the god card."

"What powers?" Rex asked.

"I'll show you. Reveal face down trap card! March of the Archfiends!" Devon announced. "This trap card allows me to pay life points in intervals of 100 in order to special summon Archfiend monsters."

"Archfiend monsters?" Joey asked Grandpa.

"It's a new series of monster cards. The Archfiend cards incorporate high attack power and deadly special effects." Grandpa told them.

"I pay 300 life points to summon three Archfiend Soldiers." Devon told Rex. Three demon looking monsters wearing green capes and carrying swords appeared on Devon's field. "However because my soldiers were summoned with the effect of my trap card they can't attack."

"_Well that's a relief._" Rex thought. "_He could have wiped out all of my life points this turn._"

Devon smiled once again. "And now Mr. Raptor I use the special effect of Raviel, Lord of Phantasms."

"And what's its ability?" Rex asked.

"I can offer Raviel the other monsters on my field and should it accept my offerings Raviel can absorb their attack strength until the end of the turn."

"No way!" Rex shouted. Raviel reached down and scoped the three Archfiend Soldiers into its claws and proceeded to crush them. As the soldiers were crushed purple waves of energy flowed from Raviel's hand and created waves of energy that went across the monsters entire body.

"He has accepted the offerings! Now Raviel's power shall grow by 1900 points per soldier!" Devon declared.

"But there were three of those Archfiends." Tristan said. "And each one had 1900 points."

"That means on top of its own 4000 points that Raviel card's going to gain 5700 extra points." Duke figured out.

"That will put its attack strength at 9700." Mia said.

After the beast was fully charged Devon looked from his monster to Rex. "I want to thank you Mr. Raptor."

"For what?"

"For the perfect opportunity to show case just what my card can do. Now prepare to feel its wrath! Raviel, Lord of Phantasms attack Serpent Night Dragon!" Raviel extended its arm towards Rex and then brought its hand down. Since the hand was just a hologram Rex found himself incased in it.

He could only stand there and watch as his Serpent Night Dragon was destroyed. But then something strange happened. Once his life points hit zero Rex looked up to see Raviel hovering over him except it looked slightly different. Instead of looking like a normal hologram Raviel looked more transparent now, sort of like a ghost or a sprit.

"What's going on?!" he inquired. "The duel's over! Why hasn't your monster vanished?!"

"Because Mr. Raptor my beast has yet to claim his prize." Devon told him.

"What prize?"

"YOUR SOUL!" Devon shouted.

The Sacred Beast wrapped its ghostly looking claws around Rex and held him in its grasp. Once Rex was trapped he felt a great pain surging through the course of his body. He could feel himself growing weaker and weaker with each passing second.

"With your life force Mr. Raptor my monsters dark powers will grow and become stronger." Devon muttered.

Back up in their booth the gang watched as Raviel made its attack. They watched the monsters hand come crashing down on Rex and his dragon.

"And with that it's all over." Tristan said.

"Rex's dragon is now flatter than a pancake." Joey pointed out.

It was at that time that Yugi and Bakura felt a small jolt through their bodies and could hear Rex screaming in pain in their ears. They both jumped out of their seats and leaned against the windows.

"What's up guys?" Duke asked.

"Something's going on down there." Bakura told them.

"Something bad is happening to Rex." Yugi said.

"How do you guys know?" Mai asked.

"We don't know how we know." Bakura said. "We just know something's happening to Rex."

Tea stood up and looked out the window with the guys. "I can't see him at all."

"That's because Rex is still in that Obelisk knock offs hand." Joey said.

Suddenly Raviel raised its hand off of Rex and then vanished off the field. Rex was left standing on his side of the field with an empty look in his eyes.

"You see Yugi, Rex is fine." Tristan told him. But then Rex fell face first into the arena floor. "Okay, not so fine."

As Devon left the duel field the KaibaCorp paramedics rushed out with a stretcher and proceeded to load Rex onto it and take him to the infirmary. Yugi and the gang watched the paramedics wheel Rex away to under the stands.

"What in the world just happened out there?" Tea wondered.

"I don't know." Joey replied. "But I know this much, it has something to do with that evil Obelisk look alike."

"Have you ever heard of a card like that Grandpa?" Yugi asked.

Grandpa shook his head. "Never Yugi. I've never seen a card like this before in my life."

"That either means it's a new card or its one of those rare one of a kind cards." Tristan said.

"Or a combination of both." Mia said.

"The dark energy that monster was emitting, it's extraordinary." Bakura said. "I've never felt power like that."

"I have." Yugi said as he thought about the shadow game he and Yami played against Yami Marik during the final duel of the Battle City tournament. "The power that monster puts off could rival the Shadow Realm."

"So what do we do about it?" Joey asked.

Duke looked over in the corner and saw the computer. He snapped his fingers and said "I got an idea."

He walked over and turned the computer on. "Duke what are you doing?" Tea asked.

"I remember Mokuba saying that these computers were hooked up to the KaibaCorp card database." Duke explained.

"So?" Tristan asked.

"Kaiba's database has detailed files on every card ever made so odds are we just might find something on that Raviel card." Duke told them.

"Think it'll work?" Mia asked.

"It's worth a try." Yugi said. "Give it a shot Duke."

On the other side of the stadium the elevator door opened and Devon Miles walked out. He walked to his booth and was two steps away from his booth door when he stopped.

He smiled and said "I was wondering when you would show yourself Maximillion." Devon turned around and found himself face to face with Pegasus. "It is nice to see you again my friend."

"I wish I could say the same Devon." Pegasus said.

"You've come to try and take back the Sacred Beasts I presume?" Devon asked.

"I have." Pegasus replied. "And I have also come here to free you from there control."

"I'm afraid you are mistaken Maximillion. The beasts do not control me, I control them."

"Devon please, I implore you to listen to reason. In the wrong hands the Sacred Beasts can destroy all life on Earth as we now it. We must seal them away before any more innocent people are harmed."

"If I recall you said the same thing about the Egyptian God cards."

"That is completely different situation! All though I did not know it at the time I was destined to create those cards so that they would eventually be used to release the great Pharaoh from the confines of the Millennium Puzzle and regain his memories!"

"Yes but before you knew about the Pharaoh you sealed the cards away because you were afraid of them." Devon stated. "You were afraid of the gods' power. Power you could not control. A power that you, Maximillion Pegasus, were not worthy of."

"What is your trying to say Devon?" Pegasus asked.

"What I'm saying Pegasus is that just like the three Egyptian God monsters the power of the Sacred Beasts frightens you. And because of this fact you locked them away and tried to keep them away from everyone including me. Me, their creator."

"I've had enough of your dramatization! I've come for those cards and I will take them from you!"

"Is that so?"

"I did it once and I shall do it again!"

Devon chuckled a little bit and then drew the top card of his deck. He showed it to Pegasus. It was Raviel, Lord of Phantasms. "You want the Sacred Beasts back that bad Pegasus then here! Take it!"

Devon threw the card at Pegasus. Once Pegasus caught it the card glowed with a dark purple aura. The aura from the card expanded itself and engulfed Pegasus. Then strange purple bolts of energy coursed all over Pegasus body as he shouted in pain. The creator of Duel Monsters fell to his knees, doubled over in pain. After he fell to the floor Pegasus dropped Raviel's card and when he did the pain left and the dark aura retreated. As Pegasus tried to catch his breath Devon walked up to him, bent over, and picked up his card.

He stood up laughing. "It seems the beasts can tell the difference between their real masters and the imposters." Devon turned around and walked back to his booth.

Before walking in he said "Enjoy the rest of the tournament while you can Maximillion. By the time it ends so will everything else." He walked into his booth and closed the door, leaving only Pegasus in the hall.

Pegasus struggled but he managed to get back on to his feet. He stumbled his way back to the other side of the arena to get to his private booth. Croquet was standing guard outside the booth when he saw Pegasus stumbling towards him, using the wall to lean on and walk. He rushed to Pegasus side and helped him back inside the booth.

"Master Pegasus are you alright?" Croquet asked.

"Only thing that really hurts is my pride." Pegasus muttered.

"Would you like me to fix you a white wine spritzer sir?"

"Thank you Croquet." As Croquet fixed Pegasus's drink Pegasus sat on the sofa in the room. While he was trying to catch his breath Pegasus was also thinking of a plan to defeat Devon and the Sacred Beasts.

"_Their power seems to have grown. Raviel's dark force is much stronger now than before it was locked away inside the vault. And if his power has increased then it is sure that Uria's and Hamon's power has grown as well._" Pegasus thought. "_Now in order for me to lock them away again their power must be drained and the only way to do that is by defeating them in a duel. And there are only three men I know of with the power and the skill to accomplish this task._"

Back in the gangs booth Duke was hunched over the computer trying to use Kaiba's database to search for clues when Joey walked over. "Any luck yet Duke?"

"I'm afraid not." Duke replied. "I did a search for Raviel Lord of the Phantasms but there was nothing in then KaibaCorp computers about it. As far as Kaiba's company's concerned that card doesn't even exist."

"How's that even possible?" Tristan asked.

"Maybe we were right and it's a new card that no one's seen yet." Tea said.

"And Pegasus hired that Devon Miles to participate in the tournament to show off some new cards." Mia added.

"Then how do you explain all that dark power that Bakura and Yugi felt uh?" Joey asked them. "I'm tellin' ya there's something fishy goin' on here and to be honest I'd rather find out now what's going on rather than find out from some nut while me and Yugi are locked in a life or death duel with the guy."

Tristan paused for a moment and then said to Joey "Dude, don't be such a drama queen."

"He is right though." Bakura said. "Right when his and Yugi's life's are at risk is usually when the villain explains to them his dastardly plot."

"You see! Even Bakura gets it!" Joey told them. "And it never really happened to him!"

Outside over the PA system Roland announced "And now to choose our next two competitors!"

"The next match is starting." Grandpa said wondering over to the viewing window.

"It should be the second to last match of the first round right?" Duke asked Grandpa, who replied with a nod.

Everybody settled in front of the viewing window and as they did Joey yelled "What about that Raviel card!? Isn't anyone else worried that we're gonna end up fightin' shadow games again!?"

"Pipe down Joey!" Mia said. "We're going to watch the next duel."

"But…but…but."

"Enough of your 'buts' and sit down." Mai told him.

Joey sighed and came and sat down next to her and Yugi muttering "Don't blame me if we all wind up in the Shadow Realm."

"Our first duelist is…the famous ocean duelist Mako Tsunami!" Roland shouted.

"Awesome. Mako's dueling." Yugi proclaimed.

"And his opponent will be…the lone crusader Michael Knight!"

Joey looked at the picture of Knight and said "That pretty boy doesn't stand a chance against Mako. This duels goin' be over fast than you can say 'later'."

"_Well at least this duel's going to make Joey forget all about that Raviel card._" Yugi thought.

Mako walked out on to the duel field the same time Michael Knight did. As they shuffled their cards Michael was making small talk with Mako.

"The great Mako Tsunami. I've got to tell you Mako it's a real honor to duel with you." Knight said. "You were one of the biggest contenders in the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City tournaments."

"I thank you for your compliment Knight." Mako said. "But I am not concerned with my past performances in the other tournaments. I am here to duel with all my strength and win the Duel Monsters Championship."

"Well then our goals are the same." Knight said. He then activated his duel disk and said "Give me your all Mako!"

Mako activated his disk and replied "I shall take the first turn!" Knight nodded in agreement. Mako drew his first card and then looked up into the stands. He eyed all the fans cheering for either him or Knight but what caught Mako's eye was that he could see Yugi and the others in their booth.

Although he couldn't hear them Mako figured based on their arm movements that they were routing for him. "_Do not worry my friends_." Mako thought. "_I shall conquer this little minnow as quickly as I can. After all I have bigger fish to challenge, isn't that right Yugi?_"

"Hey Tsunami! Are you going to make a move or not?!" Knight asked.

"I place one card face down and one monster face down in defense mode!" Mako shouted. "And that will end my turn."

"Then it's my draw." Knight said. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Then it is my turn." Mako said. (Mako lifepoints-4000, hand-5/Knight lifepoints-4000, hand-5) "_He didn't summon a monster card. So could his face down card be a trap or is it just a bluff?_" Mako pondered. "_I suppose there is but one way to find out._"

"For my first move I shall activate a field spell called Umi." Mako said. Suddenly behind him a huge wave came out of nowhere and flooded the entire dueling field. "Now thanks to this small ocean all my denizens of the deep shall gain 200 attack and defense points."

"Only 200 points?" Knight asked. "That doesn't sound like a whole lot."

"But it shall be enough. For now I sacrifice my facedown Flying Fish in order to summon my Amphibian Beast. And thanks to Umi his attack points increase to 2600." Mako said. "Now Amphibian Beast attack his life points directly!"

"Reveal face down card!" Knight shouted. "The Spellbinding Circle trap card! With this trap I can negate your monsters attack and snare him within the circle preventing him from attacking or switching its battle mode."

"I shall end my turn." Mako said.

"My draw." Knight said. (Mako lifepoints-4000, hand-3/Knight lifepoints-4000, hand-6) "I play the Graceful Charity spell to draw three cards. Now I can discard two cards. Finally I'll place three cards face down and one monster face down. That ends my turn."

"I draw." Mako said. (Mako lifepoints-4000, hand-4/Knight lifepoints-4000, hand-2) "I can't attack with my Amphibian so I shall sacrifice and summon a new monster."

"Sorry Mako but I can't let you do that. I play the Mask of Restrict trap card." Knight said. "This trap prevents either of us from tribute summoning our monsters for stronger ones."

"_I already have two traps in my grave yard and two continuous traps on the field._" Knight thought. "_The time is almost at hand._"

"Then I suppose it is plan B." Mako said.

"Plan B?" Knight asked.

"I shall now play a new field spell called Legendary Ocean!" Then the sea inside the arena rose until it filled up the stadium. Then behind Mako rose and ancient underwater city. "Now Legendary Ocean's effect allows all the water attribute monsters in our hands to lose one star level. And with that said I summon my Legendary Fisherman!" The familiar monster swooped out of the citadel behind Mako and floated beside him. Its attack points read 2050.

"Your fisherman's attack is supposed to be 1850. How does it have 2050?" Knight inquired.

"Legendary Ocean functions just like Umi, only it increases the attack points of all water attribute monsters by 200 points." Mako explained. "Now Legendary Fisherman attack!"

"I activate my Shadow Spell trap card! It works just like Spellbinding Circle except it lowers your monsters points by 700." Knight explained.

"I end my turn." Mako said.

"Then it is my draw." Knight said. When Knight drew his top card he sensed a spark course through him. His only thought was "_It's here._"

Up in their booth the entire gang was cheering for Mako's victory. Yugi and Bakura were cheering as well until they felt another shock run down their spine.

"Oh dear." Bakura muttered. "Not again."

Duke looked at Bakura and said "Don't tell me."

"I have the same feeling now like I had when Devon Miles summoned that Raviel card." Bakura said.

"That's impossible!" Joey said. "Unless…"

"Unless this Michael Knight has a power just like Devon's." Yugi said.

"But that would mean that Mako's in great danger!" Grandpa said.

"We have to stop the duel now before Mako gets hurt." Tea said.

"But how can we?" Tristan asked. "The only ones that can stop a duel is either Kaiba or Mokuba and we haven't seen them all day!"

Back out on the field Knight held the card he had just drew. He smiled and said "This has been a fun duel Mako but I'm afraid it must come to an end."

"What do you mean by that?" Mako asked.

"I'll show you by flipping my monster face up! I play the Trap Master!"

"Not that monster!" Mako shouted surprised.

"That's right and when this monster is flipped summoned I can destroy one trap card on the field." Knight explained. "And I have to say I've been curious about your facedown card. Go Trap Master, show me what Mako's card is." The Trap Master leapt onto Mako's card and forced it up to reveal Tornado Wall.

"So it is a trap after all." Knight said. "Too bad you won't get the chance to use it." And on that note the Trap Master destroyed Mako's trap and floated back to Knights side of the field.

"You may have destroyed my Tornado Wall but I still have both my Amphibian Beast and my Legendary Fisherman on the field and they are empowered with the strength of my Legendary Ocean field spell." Mako said. "To beat me this turn you will need to get past them and in order to do that you need a creature more powerful than your Trap Master. And due to the effect of Mask of Restrict you cannot sacrifice your monster for one."

Knight chuckled a little and said "You're only partially correct Mako. True my trap prevents me from sacrificing my monsters. But it doesn't say anything about sacrificing my trap cards does it?"

"What?" Mako said.

"This guy's completely nuts!" Joey declared. "You can't sacrifice trap cards to summon monsters! That's totally against the rules!"

"Now Mako prepare yourself!" Knight announced. "I sacrifice my Spellbinding Circle, my Mask of Restrict, and my Shadow Spell trap cards!" The three traps dematerialized and then there was a rumbling sound as the entire stadium shook.

"What in the name of the seven seas is happening?" Mako wondered. Then from behind Knight there erupted a huge pillar of flames and magma. The pillar seemed to stretch to the sky and as it burned the ocean created by Mako's field spell seemed to evaporate away until there wasn't any water left. Up inside their booth Yugi and the others could feel the heat being given off by the pillar of fire through the glass.

"What's the deal with this heat?" Tristan asked. "Holograms can't do this."

"I'm afraid this monster's more than just a mere hologram." Grandpa said.

Then two bat-like wings sprung out of the flames. The fire then took on the monsters form and as the flame vanished Knights monster appeared. "Behold Mako the mighty Uria, Lord of Searing Flame!" Knight shouted.

"I've never heard of this monster." Mako said. "But it looks just like Slifer the Sky Dragon."

"Compared to my monster the great Slifer the Sky Dragon is completely powerless." Knight gloated.

"I can't believe it." Mia said.

"Two god card look-a-likes in one day." Duke said.

"And to think he summoned it by sacrificing trap cards." Joey added.

"But it doesn't have any attack points." Bakura said. "So how could Knight use this monster to beat Mako?"

"I have a strange feeling we're about to find out." Yugi said.

"First I activate Uria's special effect! Uria gains 1000 attack points for every trap card that rest's in my graveyard." Knight explained. "And right now I have five traps in the graveyard. So Uria's attack points rise to 5000."

"5000 attack points?!" Mako said surprisingly. "Even so, my Legendary Fisherman's effect prevents you from targeting him with an attack. Which means the only monster your Uria can attack is my Amphibian Beast."

"_Even if my beast takes an attack from a 5000 attack point monster I will still have life points left._" Mako thought. "_Then when my turn comes I can switch my monsters to defense mode and start to think of a plan to beat this creature._"

"I told you Mako the duel's ending this turn." Knight assured him. "And to do it I'll play my final trap card."

"Another trap?!" Mako shouted.

"Activate the Ring of Destruction! With this trap I can destroy your fisherman and reduce our life points by its attack points." Knight declared.

The ring attached itself to the Legendary Fisherman. The ring detonated and blew up Mako's monster, reducing both Mako's and Knight's life points by 2050.

"And since another trap card is in my graveyard Uria gains 1000 more attack points." Knight pointed out.

"But that would make its attack power 6000." Grandpa said.

"Go Uria attack Amphibian Beast!" Knight commanded. From Uria's mouth a stream of flames erupted, completely consuming Mako and his monster. As Mako's life points dropped to zero he could be heard shouting in pain but he couldn't be seen through the flames.

Once Mako's life points hit zero something strange happened. As Mako watched a ghostly looking Uria came at him with its jaws open. The beast clamped Mako in to its jaws causing him even more pain.

"Can anybody see Mako?" Duke asked.

"No way dude." Tristan replied. "That flame's really intense."

When the flames settled down Mako came into view. "Alright! He's okay!" Joey cheered. Only then did Mako fall backwards onto the arena floor unconscious.

"Mako!" the entire gang shouted.

"First Rex and now Mako too!" Tea cried.

Yugi looked down on the field at his unconscious friend. "Mako. NOOOOOOO!"

**-Sorry it took so long to update this folks. I took the summer off and when I got back to school the professors started pilling on the work. But I finally got this chapter done. I hope it was enjoyable. FYI, I went back to the previous chapters and I fixed (or at least tried to fix) some of the grammar errors and in a couple of them I added some stuff or changed some stuff a little. Thought I'd say something if anyone would be interested.**


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